Trusting a demon
by sha-kenren
Summary: A story of a group of OC's and the titans taking on the army's of Hell. Led by Lucifer, Trigon, and Slade, Hells army makes life difficult for the titans and their new friends. Please R&R, open to suggestions for future chapters: on hiatus for now, i am
1. Strange Presecne

The final battle with Slade draws near, the Titans prepare for battle. But what happens when they find someone new? Who is this new super powered teen, why does Raven get the feeling that he isn't human? Will he help the Titans to defeat the notorious Slade, or will he double cross them for his own amusement? All these questions appear in the minds of the titans when he does something completely out of the blue. Pairings mainly OC/Rae, maybe a little Rob/Star, if I feel like it.

A/N This is my first fan-fiction ever. I have no idea how long I'm gunna make it. I am focusing on Raven and my OC for the most part so the rest of the Titans are gunna have to take a backseat on this one. If people like it, then I will continue to write, I really I really don't know where I'm gunna take this story, but I have a good idea. If any one has any ideas for me, I'm open to suggestions.

Disclaimer: I don't own Teen Titans

And a side note for all of you flamers out there, you won't bother me. I'm just looking for people's true feelings on this fic. So don't hold back.

"Talking"

'Thinking'

Chapter 1 A Strange Presence

The Titans were in a fierce battle with the hive. Robin and Starfire were fighting together against Mammoth, Starfire throwing her leader so his kicks would have more force behind them so they could quickly dispose of the behemoth and help the others out. With a combination of fierce kicks and well-aimed starbolts, Mammoth went down for the count.

Cyborg was taking on Gizmo, and Beastboy was watching his back to ensure that Gizmo didn't hack into Cyborg's system and control him like a marionette. The two Titans were trying to end it quickly by taking away Gizmo's backpack. Their main incentive was to return to the game they had left back in tower, and a little tournament they had going between them. Then Gizmo activated a holographic generator to help take on the super powered team. As soon as most of the holograms were defeated, Cyborg noticed that one of the Gizmos was sneaking off like a coward and caught him, making that two hive members down, and one to go.

Raven had been left to deal with Jinx by herself. Which made the half demon happy, even though the Titans were her only friends; she had always preferred to be alone. The two didn't notice that they were fighting in an old warehouse that should have been condemned long ago for instability. Raven had begun to chant

"Azerath Metrion Zinthos!" And sent a large crate flying at the witch. Jinx barely dodged the object, as she did a cartwheel, sending hexes all over the place, Raven easily dogged them but lost track of Jinx.

Before she had any time to react, the building started to crumble around her. She tried several times to erect a barrier to protect herself, but each time she failed. Then she saw it, as the roof caved in, the metal supports snapped and began their rapid decent towards her. She was powerless to protect herself as the metal came at her; she shut her eyes and prepared for her own demise. Right as Raven blacked out, she saw a figure that clearly wasn't human, come closer to her.

(Raven's Dream)

'_Where am I? Am I dead?'_

'_You're still alive, just unconscious.' A mysterious voice said softly in her mind._

_She looked up frantically only to see a blur._

'_Who are you… Where are you?' Then something caught her eye, a silhouette of a dog, slowly mutating into what looked to be a man in the distance._

'_The answers will soon be made known to you, but until then, you must wake up. Your friends are very worried about you… and yes, I will be here with you when you awaken.' The figure said with a grin._

'_How did he know what I was thinking? Wait, why do I care if he is there when I get up?_

'_Because, you have questions, and only he has the answers' a voice in my mind stated._

_She felt herself being drawn towards reality. As she slowly got out of her bed, she thought 'I need to find this guy and get some answers' _

(Back with the Titans)

"Who are you?" Robin asked, as he and the Titans took in every extraordinary thing about this stranger.

He had short, silver hair that stood on end. Peeking out of it were two pointed dog ears, silver to match his hair at the base, but faded to a deep blood red at the tips. His eyes were…unsettling. The irises were deep red, and the sclera, normally white on humans, was pitch black. Swishing behind him was a silver dog tail.

He wore a black leather trench coat, a spandex shirt with two kanji symbols on his chest, black pants with three belts, one going horizontally, while the other two hung on his hips to form an 'X' over the other belt. His boots were black leather, and have an external polished steel toe on each shoe.

"My name," He said with a grin, "is Exile."

TBC

A/N I would like to thank my awesome Beta-reader KittyGirl18 for helping me not completely screw up my first fanfic ever. I would love for you all to review, no matter what you think of my story, I just want to know if I'm on the right track or not.


	2. Answered Questions

Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans

Chapter 2

Answered Questions

(With the Titans)

The Titans were still in awe of Exile. Beastboy and Starfire were the first to regain their senses and started asking question after question, leaving Exile very little time to respond.

"DUDE! Is that your real hair color!" Beastboy yelled.

Exile winced at the green boy's sudden outburst and bit out:

"Yes it is, although I don't see why it is all that amazing to you, being as you have green skin!" Then he thought to himself, _'He's an idiot…but he is kind of funny, I shouldn't tell him that though, because he'll just come back and bug me some more.'_

"Oh yeah…I forgot." Beastboy laughed nervously, and decided that it would be best if he hid in a corner for a while.

As Beastboy cowered away, Starfire stepped up to try to get all of her questions out in one breath.

"What is your favorite food? Color? Where are you from? Will you be my friend?"

She started to gasp for air, when Exile looked at the other Titans and asked:

"Is she always like this?"

The others nodded in response.

'Man, is this girl nuts! Although she does seem to be a decent companion, she looks out for herself and her friends. But she isn't human; I'll have to ask later. But for now I'll humor her.'

"Meat and potatoes, black and silver, I don't remember where I'm originally from, and sure I'll be your friend, but I must ask, why? You barely even know me, and you're trusting me as a friend."

"Had it not been for you, Friend Exile, Friend Raven would not be with us right now." She quickly replied, failing to contain her excitement of having a new friend.

"One more thing. Don't call me 'Friend Exile', I don't like it. Just Ex will do, since were on friendly terms." He replied sternly, and added in a kinder voice, "Before I answer any more questions, you must give me your names, so I know who to address."

Robin stepped up.

"I'm Robin, and to my left is Cyborg, the overactive girl in front of you is Starfire, and the green one that is hiding in the corner is Beastboy." Robin thought for a second and added, "And Raven is the one that you saved from what seemed to be a certain death situation."

Exile just nodded, he could sense the sadness in the room skyrocket at the memory of the event. He decided to change the topic quickly to lighten the mood somewhat. "Are there any more questions that you would like to ask me?"

Beastboy just shook his head quickly and left to return to his game. Starfire thought of a question, but quickly postponed it because this wasn't the time or place to ask that. Cyborg thought for a second, and a question hit him, "How and why did you save Raven?"

"Wow, that question came out faster then I though it would. But to answer you simply, I cannot answer it right now, although I will explain my motives after I have spoken with Raven." Cyborg was a little annoyed with Exile's secrecy, but let it go because he promised to explain the situation later. He sat down next to Beastboy and grabbed a controller, and the tournament was back on.

'_This Cyborg seems to be a very strong ally, and also is more concerned about his friends lives rather then his own. An excellent trait to have, but it is also his greatest weakness as well as his very strength in battle. He also doesn't trust and respect anyone who doesn't deserve it, and doesn't expect others to be different; he will be a great ally to have.' _

Finally it was Robin's turn to ask a few questions. He thought for a moment, searching for an appropriate question. Then one hit him.

"I can tell from your looks that you aren't human, so what exactly are you, and what exactly can you do?" He asked with the sound of authority in his voice laced with a bit of curiosity.

'Robin is the only one with no unnatural powers, but he seems to be able to hold his ground along with the others. The others have a deep respect for him, and they consider him their leader. Despite all this, he has a dark past and that is intertwined with mystery. He also can be a little obsessive, which will either bring him victory, or bring him defeat; it all depends on him when the time comes.'

Exile grinned, as he was about to reveal what he actually was to the teen in front of him, but before he could even utter a word, another voice spoke up.

"He is a demon, a dog demon if I'm not mistaken, but as to the extent of his abilities, I am unsure."

He quickly turned his head to the origin of the voice. There stood Raven, a slight smile on her face at the teens' reaction to her intrusion.

He smirked at the voice's origin, and gave a quick nod to her, _'How did I know that she would find out about my heritage first? It doesn't seem to bother her about what I am.'_

"She's right. I am a demon, which should explain my hair, eyes, and ears." He replied. "But as for my abilities, that will have to wait until tomorrow, because it looks like you all need some time to take it in, and rest."

They were about to turn and leave when Beastboy's voice stopped them. "I know this might be a little personal, but you aren't an evil demon from Hell, bent on world destruction, are you?" His voice was had traces of fear in it, along with the hope that his statement wouldn't be true.

Exile shook his head and stated:

"No, that is a common misconception about demons. Sure, there are bad demons that are like that, but not all of them are. Most just want to live their lives with little or no trouble, and raise a family. And I am one of the types that can co-exist with humans, so I am of no danger to you. But I have been to Hell, although my stay was very brief."

The Titans stopped and stared at Exile, begging him to continue with their eyes.

"I suppose you want me to elaborate on that last part, don't you?"

They nodded in unison.

"Thought so. Well, here goes nothing. A long time ago, my brother and I got into one of our arguments. For us, it was routine, but to any onlookers it was a fierce battle. But this time, he got carried away, and made a mistake, costing me my life.

"Because of my heritage, I was sent to Hell. The next thing that I knew, I was surrounded by fire, and a countless number of souls being tormented. But the only thing that had my attention was the fire. One of my abilities is that I can absorb fire into my body, and what better challenge then to absorb all of Hell's flames?

"As I began the process though, Satan himself came at me. He ripped a portal to the living world and shoved me through, saying: 'I will not have my fire be absorbed by the likes of you, from this day foreword, when you come into my domain, I shall send you right back, you shall live forever on Earth.' Then he added in an even more evil voice: 'Have fun being in exile for all eternity!'

Now you know the true reason behind my name, all other questions will have to wait until tomorrow. Get some rest, you have a long day ahead." They nodded, and turned to walk out of the room.

As he was exiting the room, Robin glanced over his shoulder and saw Raven standing firm as the others left.

"Ex, you are welcome to stay for the night. Raven will show you to a room after you two are done sorting things out. Goodnight." He left, leaving a confused Raven in his wake.

Raven turned to Exile, searching for an answer.

He said softly "I told them that you would have some questions for me, so they wouldn't try to stop you when you did eventually come to me."

She nodded, and begun to think of how to word her questions.

"First of all, I need to know why you saved me." She stated firmly.

He thought for a moment before answering.

"I honestly don't know why I saved you, other then the fact that my instincts were telling me that I needed you. I have yet to figure out what they meant, it could be anything from me needing your aid in breaking my curse of being in exile, or it could be…" His voice trailed off at the end, but her eyes were begging him to continue.

"What else could it be?" She asked curiously.

"Or…it could be telling me that I need you to be with me, because you are the only one that can truly understand me, and I am the only one that can help you to conquer you past." After he finished, they both blushed a deep crimson color.

After a few moments Raven shook her head in shame.

"That can't be true. No one would ever want to be with a worthless half demon like me…" Her words almost were too soft for even him to hear, but any other words were now being cut off by an onslaught of tears. He couldn't help but give into his instincts, and rushed over to her side.

"How the hell could you believe that to be true, that no one would want to be with you just because you're a half demon? You are very beautiful Raven, and don't let the fact of your father being a worthless piece of trash get in the way of what you truly want in your life." Before she could respond, he scooped her into his embrace, and started purring softly to calm her.

(Raven's perspective)

'_Don't let the fact of your father being a worthless piece of trash get in the way of what you truly want in your life.'_

That sentence is playing over and over in my head. Is there any truth behind what he is saying? Am I not a worthless half demon? It can't be, everyone I've ever cared for, ended up betraying me in some form or another.

But it seems so true coming out of his mouth. Maybe there is someone in this realm that truly cares about me, and maybe he is the one who is holding me in his arms. This is the first time I have ever been held like this by a man, and I feel like nothing can hurt me while I'm here with him.

I'm not going to question his reasoning for embracing me like this just yet. I want to keep feeling this feeling of safety and warmth by being in his arms, this just feels so right, I don't want it to ever stop. My tears have long since stopped; they were replaced by the feeling of contentment. _'Wait, what's that rumbling I feel? It's coming from…Ex? Is he purring?_' I giggled at the thought.

(Exile's Perspective)

After a while of holding her in my arms, I noticed that she never once rejected my touch. She did the exact opposite; she actually leaned into my embrace. Soon I felt all of the sadness in her body slowly leave her as it was being replaced by happiness and contentment. Then she did something I didn't expect her to ever do, she giggled. I reached my hand up to her face to turn it so I can look into her eyes.

"What's so funny?" I asked curiously.

"You were purring" She replied with a grin on her face.

I blushed, and she laughed even harder. She buried her face into my chest in a futile attempt to hide her laughter. Once when her laughter died down, I was able to talk again.

"I think any other questions can wait until tomorrow, we should probably get to bed." Then I felt her shake her head into my chest. "What's wrong?"

"I have one more question I need to ask you before I show you to your room." I nodded for her to continue. She took a deep breath and said, "What do the Kanji symbols on your chest mean?" She asked, trying to hide her immense curiosity.

I gave a quick laugh before saying,

"This one" as I pointed to the left symbol, "means loyalty, this is one trait that I wish everyone had. And this one" gesturing to the right, "means blood, and blood is the fluid of life, not to mention a variety of other things."

(Raven's perspective)

"Wow." My mouth dropped open in wonder. _'I can't wait until tomorrow, then I get to learn more about him and his past, and maybe I'll share my past with him.' _

I finally remembered where I was and snapped back to reality.

"They have deeper meaning then I thought."

He only nodded in response and I continued, "It is getting really late, we should go to sleep."

He nodded once again, and added, "You need to show me where I'm sleeping tonight."

I just smiled and said, "That's right, follow me, the only empty room with a bed and a bathroom is right next to mine."

As we reached my door, I thought _'I still have yet to thank him for saving my life, hmmm…what should I do? I know! But I better do it before I lose my nerve.'_

With that last thought, I turned around and quickly stood on the tips of my toes and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"I just wanted to thank you for saving my life, and for showing me that there are people out there that don't just see me for being a half demon. Your room is right over there." I pointed to a door ten feet away, "I hope you don't mind sleeping in the cold, the heater is broken in that room, and we haven't fixed it yet."

He smiled as he turned around and responded, "That's actually no problem at all. I love sleeping in the cold."

He gave one last smile at me before we parted ways, and slid into our own deep slumbers.


	3. Horrible Nightmare

Horrible Nightmare

Disclaimer I don't own the Titans, but Exile is mine.

Chapter 3

(Exile's Perspective)

Early the next morning, I decided to give up on actually getting some sleep. 'Damn my demon blood for not needing any sleep, that was the only thing that would have kept me from thinking all night like that.'

I started to walk down the hall, as I passed Raven's door, with my heightened hearing, I heard her tossing in bed, whimpering in fear. I burst through the door; 'I'll fix that later, right now she needs me' and I rushed to her side in hopes of finding out what was frightening her.

As I approached her sleeping form, I noticed that her room was a mess. 'Whoa this must be bad for her powers to freak out like this, oh shit.' It was then that I noticed the shape she was in.

Her sheets were tangled around her body, her body and soaked with sweat. I could hear her chant something over and over, 'No, this cant be real, Please let this not be real…' with that, she broke down and cried in her sleep.

That shattered any restraint I had left. 'I have to do it; I must probe her mind, and help her. I must help her with everything I am.' I concentrated on the now trembling girl in front of me, and I entered her mind, which was no easy task to accomplish.

Her mind has layer upon layer of wall, to guard herself from an attack in her weakened state. But as I broke through one of these walls, I was sent into a very disturbing sight. Fire and destruction was everywhere. I couldn't sense any living soul in this place, until I heard cackling laughter, along with a fearful scream. 'Raven!' I rushed over to the noise, and what I came across was even more disturbing than the scene around me. There was a man, in black and gold armor, surrounded by an aura of pure evil.

'I have never felt this much evil in one person ever before…oh shit! Raven is in trouble!'

It was then that Raven came into view. Her black leotard torn to almost nothing, revealing her arms and midriff, which were covered by glowing red glyphs, matching the one on the figure's forehead. I was about to run up and take this guy down for what he has done to Raven, but then he started to talk. 'Lets see what he has to say, before I rush in. He may reveal the reasoning behind this horrible dream.'

"Now Raven, did you really think that you could alter your destiny?" The figure said mockingly. "You of all people should know that your destiny is the one thing that can never be changed."

'This has gone on long enough! I will not stand by and watch him mock her for his amusement! I will end this now, so she won't have to suffer any longer.'

With that final thought, I used amazing speed, and got to them in record time. Before the dark figure knew what was going on, I punched him in the face, sending him flying back into a destroyed wall in the ruined city. 'I know that won't keep him away for very long, but it will give me enough time to try to wake her up.'

I rushed over to her side to make sure she's ok. When I got there, she was curled into a ball and was crying loudly. I bent down and picked her up, she didn't fight me that much, but she made it clear that she didn't want to be touched. I didn't listen to her warnings, and embraced her, and started purring like I did last time.

'I hope this works, I hate seeing her like this.'

(Raven's perspective)

I fought against the person trying to grab me, but to no avail. As I was about to give up, the person started to make a very familiar sound. It was Ex purring!

'He came and saved me from Slade, how is it that he shows up right when I need him the most? Am I dreaming him, or did he find a way into my mind to get to me? He wouldn't give off this sense warmth and security if he wasn't here, so then he must be here!'

At this realization I embraced him back and cried on his shoulder. And as this feeling of warmth and security soaked in, the world of destruction faded away, leaving everything as it should be.

(Exile's perspective)

I sensed the shift in the world around us, but I noticed that it was because she felt safe and there was nothing to fear. I smiled, and turned her head to look at me.

"I have to leave now. The longer I wait, the more difficult it will be to get out of your mind." I said with sorrow on my face. "You need to wake up, I may not be here when you do, but I will keep you safe no matter what."

She nodded into my chest and I began melt away into the background, heading towards reality.

I snapped out of my concentration after I said goodbye to her. I looked around her room and noticed that everything was a lot calmer. 'This is how she should always be. Whoa, her room is a mess, I'll help her clean it later today.'

My gaze returned to the violet haired beauty lying in front of me. 'Man, I hope she doesn't think of me as an ass for leaving her here with out an explanation.

What should I do?'

I thought for a few minutes and then it hit me. 'I'll give her this.' I pulled out my family crest, which has two husky like dogs bowing to the crescent moon. 'This is one of my few prized possessions, she should have it to let her know that I care about her.'

I then took off the pendant, and placed it into her hand and held it for a few seconds. I leaned down, and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. I smiled at her once more, but as I exited her room, I heard her sigh my name. I stood there in shock for a second, but I smiled and left her room.

'I need to clear my head, and truly think about how I feel about Raven.' With that, I started my search for a place I could have peace and quiet in order for me to think.

After searching for a few minutes, I found the perfect place to clear my mind, and have a little chat with my instincts. It was inside the Titan's gym, but it was in a dark corner in front of the window, overlooking the tranquil view of the lake and the countryside.

I sat down began to clear my head of all thought, and focused on communicating with my instincts. Once I was in my trance, I could feel my instincts taking form next to me in the shape of a silver husky.

'_What is the reason you called me into this physical form?' The dog said telepathically._

'I need help.' I replied trying to mask my desperation.

'_Ahh, you wish to know why I have been making you act the way you do around the half demon named Raven, am I right?' It started to smirk._

'Yes I would love to know why I'm acting like this towards a girl that I just met yesterday.' I plainly stated.

'_First of all, do you get a strange feeling about her, like you have known her for all your life?' Its smirk continued to grow._

It's going to make me find answers from its riddles, god I hate riddles. 'Yes, I can't explain it, but I do feel a rather strange connection between the two of us.'

'_There are only two possible explanations that I can think of to explain this. One is that it is nearing mating season, and you both have demonic blood flowing through your veins.' It seemed to be in deep thought. _

'What's the other possible explanation for it?' I asked, urging the creature to go on.

'_The other explanation is that she is your soul mate. The one person in this world who was made for you, and you for her. But this is a long shot because both humans and demons alike search lifetimes for their soul mates, but few ever find that person.'_

'My soul mate?' I was completely astonished. 'How can I know for sure if she really is my soul mate?'

'_That I can't tell you, you will have to find that out on your own, if she truly is your soul mate, then you will come together. The only thing I can tell you is that the answer lies within your soul, not your head. I must go now, until next time.' That said, the beast faded into the background._

I stayed in this realm thinking over the new facts that I had acquired. 'I feel like I can talk to her now and explain a few things, but before I try to see if she truly is my soul mate, I need to talk to my brother and his insane mate, Lilith. That may be able to give me some help with the mating process, and maybe some help on finding out if Raven truly is my soul mate.'

With my quest for answers completed for now, I decided to do a little training, until Raven arrived seeking her own answers.

(Raven's Perspective)

I awoke shortly after Ex saved me from Slade in my horrifying dream, but this time isn't like all of the other times.

'I have had this same dream ever since Slade returned, but this is the only time where I haven't been afraid when I woke up. What makes this time so different? The only difference was...Ex…' My eyes widened at that thought. 'That's right! He showed up and stopped Slade from hurting me. Why would he do that? And more importantly, how did he know I was in trouble?' I sat in shock at the fact that Ex might have actually done this for me.

As I was thinking, I noticed that Ex's aura felt really strong near my bed. I was about to find him and yell at him for being a disgusting pervert, when I noticed my door, or the lack thereof. The six-inch thick steel door, that once sealed my room from the rest of the tower, now laid in pieces across my floor. 'Holy Shit! He must have been really concerned to be able to do that to Cyborg's enhanced steel doors. This looks like a much more controlled version of when Beastboy changed into that uncontrollable beast in order to save me from Adonis. But, Ex saved me from my horrible nightmare, no one has ever done that for me.' I smiled as I attempted to get some more sleep before I find the true reasoning behind his actions.

As I was about to go back to sleep when I realized that my lips were tingling slightly and gave me the same feeling as Ex's aura around my bed, 'If he was really in here, that that means he kissed me' I blushed deeply, and covered my face with my hands, only to find something in my tightly clasped fist. Upon investigation to what it actually was, I found it to be a pendant of some sort.

'What's this? It's a pendant with dogs and a crescent moon, but why do I have this?' I lifted the pendant up to examine it. In the very center of the crescent moon, there was a beautiful black jewel.

'Why did he give this to me? This feels like it has something special behind it. First he kisses me, and then he gives me this pendant. I really need to talk with him. But I also have to talk to my emotions, so I can attempt to sort out what I'm feeling towards Ex, and to see if they can help me decipher this feeling that I've known him longer then we actually have.' I took the black chain attached to the pendant, and placed it around my neck, and I instantly felt the same calm feeling I felt the two times Ex embraced me. 'This is very weird. Now I defiantly have to speak with them.'

I walked over to the portal to my mind, which is housed in an ancient mirror, and crossed into the dimension where my emotions run free.

Darkness is everywhere, jagged rock arches leading to my emotions homes; this is my mind, my safe haven. But my emotions weren't in their homes, they had sensed my distress, and awaited my arrival.

'What is happening to me?' I asked them. 'I just need an explanation, I don't know what's going on with myself.'

For once my emotions were speechless. None could think of a reasonable explanation. That is until a voice spoke up in the back. A voice I've never heard before.

'Maybe you care deeply for him, and he cares for you.' I looked around to see the face of this new voice. Then my other emotions parted so that I could see her.

'Who are you?' I asked. I know she is one of my emotions because she looks like me, but I've never seen her before.

'I am love. You have been suppressing me all of your life due to all your thoughts of being worthless and that no one could love you because of your being a half demon.'

I stood there, speechless, for several minutes trying to piece together what love had just told me. 'If you are love, then why didn't you show up during the Malchiar incident? I cared for him deeply, and you didn't show up then. Why is that?' I asked trying to

prove her wrong.

'Well, you never truly cared for Malchiar. You always had a feeling of distrust towards him, but he seemed to be the only one that could understand you, so you didn't pay attention to that feeling. But because there was still a strong doubt in your mind about him, I didn't show up. But Exile is different. All of his actions haven't had a hidden meaning behind them. Malchiar on the other hand, was making you stronger for his own reasons. Exile has also been there for you right when you needed him. He has saved your life in reality, and also from the horrible nightmare. In addition to those times, he has saved you once more with out you even realizing it.' Love was smiling at the state of shock I was in.

I knew everything she was saying was completely true, but how else could he have saved me, and without my knowledge too? 'What do you mean there is one more time?' I asked not bothering to hide my confusion.

Love merely walked up to me and touched Ex's pendant that was hanging around my neck. 'Don't tell me you didn't sense a special meaning within this pendant? This pendant has a deep meaning behind it, but I haven't quite determined what that meaning is just yet. But that isn't how he has saved you with this.'

'Then how?'

'This pendant has some sort of magical powers within it, that has calmed you somehow. And it has also completed your control over your emotions. From what I can sense, as long as you wear it your emotions will no longer grow out of control. And as long as you keep him close, you will always feel safe.'

I was blushing completely at this point. Then realization hit me 'You mean that I….'

Love nodded with a full-blown smile on her face. 'You want to be with him and be safe with him and maybe even become his love.'

I covered my face with my hands, blushing an even darker shade of red and I nodded in confirmation. 'I want to be with him. He is the only person that has ever truly thought that I have nothing to be ashamed of about myself, the only person who has ever been able to comfort me after one of my nightmares. I want him to protect me; I want to be with him. I finally feel complete when I'm in his arms…I love him' I was shocked at my openness.

'Now you need to find him, and tell him. There is nothing else I can do for you, but we will be here for you when you need to talk.'

I nodded and exited my emotion's realm, and returned my room.

"I need to find him, but where would he be?" I began to try and pinpoint his location in the tower using my powers. 'Damn he's good at masking his aura. Wait, there he is!' Right when I found him, I teleported to his location so I wouldn't lose him again.

When I stepped out of the portal, and realized where he was, he was in the gym. 'He must be training, I hope he won't be upset if I disrupt him.' I started to worry what he will do when I disrupt him. But all thought escaped me as I saw him training before me.


	4. Background information

I've decided to post a little background information for some characters that I will be adding in the next chapter. My next chapter should be posted within the next week.

Name: Zaru

Age: Unknown (100+)

Height: 6'

Weight: Roughly 180 lbs, he doesn't stand still long enough to be weighed.

Hair: Dark brown/black. Short but wild all over the place.

Eyes: Gold

Species: Half wolf demon (mother), half dog demon (father)

Distinguishing features/marks: Tattoo of a shamrock done in Celtic knotwork on left shoulder. Gold eyes are highly noticeable. Silver torque around the neck with wolf heads on the end. Eyes of the wolves are red jewels.

Weapons: Fists, feet, and 6ft. long staff made of ironwood. Painted red, with gold ends.

Appearance: Usually wears dark clothing. Dark blue or black jeans, heavy black combat boots, a white or black tee shirt, a long black leather coat. He refers to the torque around his neck as his 'limiter'. It prevents him from losing his sense of self and going on a rampage: in other words, giving himself over completely to his demon side.

Personality: Fierce and cunning in battle, easily distracted and scatterbrained when not fighting. Friendly, sarcastic, intelligent. Loves machinery and taking things apart. Will eat just about anything that stands still long enough.

Other notes: Slow to anger, but deadly once enraged. Mated to Lilith.

Name: Lilith

Age: Unknown (around Zaru's age)

Height: 5'4"

Weight: Roughly 115 lbs.

Hair: Medium length, calico

Eyes: Goldish-green with slit pupils

Species: Cat Demon

Distinguishing features/marks: Calico hair and eyes are highly noticeable. Cat ears on top of the head, and a long tail. Multiple piercings in the ears, multiple scars on upper arms and back in archaic symbols that only she knows the meaning of.

Weapons: Claws, teeth, feet, throwing knives. Prefers her combat up close and personal.

Appearance: Very small and fine-boned, with cat ears and a prehensile tail. Prefers to wear a black leather bodysuit, sleeveless in summer, with sleeves in winter. Piercings and scarification are part of cat-demon culture. Canine teeth on top and bottom are sharp and elongated. Occasionally wears decorative rings around tail. Claws on both toes and fingers.

Personality: Tends to be quite sarcastic, and is very loyal and loving with those she knows, tends to be very mistrustful of those she doesn't. Attitude can be 'in-your-face' to a fault, but those who know her recognize when she is playing. Can be a turn-off to those just meeting her.

Other notes: Can transform into a small calico housecat, or appear as humanoid with the aforementioned extras. Mated to Zaru. Of the three, Lilith is least able to pass as human.

Name: Gaballufix (goes by Gabya)

Age: Unknown (slightly older than Zaru and Lilith)

Height: 6'

Weight: Roughly 180 lbs

Hair: Black, a little longer than Zaru's

Eyes: Black/white with red edge delineating iris

Species: Angel/Vampire

Distinguishing features/marks: Half angel, half vampire. Has white-feathered wings about 8ft. in span in angel form, with completely black eyes. Has fangs and completely white eyes with red edge delineating iris in vampire form. Angel during the day, vampire at night.

Weapons: Full tang katana, .45 long Colt, fangs, fists, feet.

Appearance: Wears dark clothing. Dark pants, heavy combat boots, button-down or tee shirts, leather coat. Always wears a beaten metal cross around the neck. Tattoo of a pentagram and runes on left hand. Wings, fangs, and eyes are aforementioned.

Personality: Contemplative, spiritual, not easily ruffled. Excellent fighter, also good with computers. Usually acts as the voice of reason for his two more hotheaded friends, especially Lilith.

Other notes: Dislikes talking about his past and how he came to be an Angel/Vampire.

Can appear fully human at will during the day only


	5. Truths Revealed

Truths Revealed

_Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans_

_Chapter 4_

(Raven's Perspective)

I stopped dead in my tracks when I saw him. He was standing in the center of the room, head bowed in concentration. He had moved all of the equipment to leave a ten-foot circle of empty space around him.

He began to slowly bring his hands together. Then out of nowhere, a dark flame-like energy appeared, and began to mold itself into a solid pair of weapons. As the dark flame dissipated, the true form of his weapons came into view.

They each had one large crescent moon blade that started at his elbow and arced out a couple of inches past his hands. Right above his hands was a smaller crescent blade spanning only a distance of about five inches. They had a very lethal look to them.

Then he began his motions. First, he began to spin them in small circles. Then out of nowhere, the smaller set of crescent blades shot out attached to a chain, and began acting as if they were living, breathing creatures. 'Now I see why he moved the machines' I thought, still in awe at the sight before me.

It looked as if something was starting to break his concentration because his eyes shot open and darted around the room in search of any intruders. Then the chains retracted themselves back to their original resting place, and the mysterious weapons disappeared in the same black flame that they came from as his eyes connected with mine.

The next thing that that he did, I never expected. He smiled a genuine smile. "How long have you been here?"

"I came as you summoned your weapons out of the strangest energy I've ever felt." I stated.

"I guess I should explain what that is then, but there are some things that I want to know as well. So let's just take turns so we both can get the information we desire."

I nodded in agreement.

"I'll start this off by explaining that energy you felt earlier."

I nodded again, urging him to continue.

(Ex's perspective)

"My aura hasn't always been a black flame, it used to be a deep red one. But when I was sent to Hell for the first time, I saw a pitch-black flame in the very heart of hell near Lucifer's castle. After dispatching the guards, I found myself standing in front of his throne, and that's when I began my quest to absorb all of Hell's fire. This black flame was the first to be absorbed, and to date it has been the only flame to hurt me, ever.

"But once I finished absorbing this unique flame, I placed myself into a trance-like state, because I had found out that this mysterious flame, also had a dragon sealed inside of it, that even the mighty Lucifer couldn't control. I stayed in this trance, fighting this beast for control of my body, and as you can see, I was victorious.

"I managed to conquer a beast that even Lucifer could not. After I conquered this black flame dragon, Lucifer threw me out of Hell because he feared what I could do. I took his uncontrollable beast and tamed it. He wanted me out before I finished off the rest of Hell's fire, and surpassed him completely in strength." I took a deep breath to calm myself down "Damn, I get too excited when I tell that story, sorry if I was a little long winded."

Raven just shook her head with a smile evident on her face, "That was an amazing story, and it actually had answered some of the other questions that I had. Now its time for your question."

"I'm sorry if this is a little personal, but what the hell was that dream all about?" I asked. "I need to know if it was just a nightmare, or is it a vision of the future that has yet to pass?"

She started to look scared at the mention of her nightmare. "Don't worry, I won't allow anything like that to plague you again." I stated in order to try and calm her down.

She took a deep breath and began. "At the time of my birth, the head priests of Azarath looked into my future, only to see destruction. But they also saw that the form I was in resembled my father's, Trigon the Destroyer." She grimaced when she said his name. "So that meant that the prophecy could be proved wrong if I were to continually fight my father, and someday over come him.

"I keep having that nightmare ever since my 16th birthday, the day that Slade was resurrected from his molten tomb, as my father's messenger. His actions were the first sign of the prophecy actually coming to pass. And these nightmares are a representation of my fears of this event.

"But because of you, the horrifying prophecy being replayed in my dream was stopped, and I was saved. That act alone is giving me the courage to feel that this war to stop the prophecy from occurring has not yet been lost." She smiled and there was a slight blush evident on her face.

"Holy shit, you mean to tell me that you've been living your entire life in fear of what your own father will do to you and the ones you love?" She nodded sadly. "I will help you, he will not get away with the torment he has put you through." I crossed my arms and glared over Raven's shoulder, as if imagining carrying out my threat on her father. Then I shook my head as if to clear it, and looked at her again "What's your next question?" I asked to try to get off such a morbid topic.

She let out a sigh of relief at the topic change. "How did you know I was in trouble and needed your help?"

"I felt a sudden tug at my heart, and a voice in my head told that you needed my help, and when I got to your bed side, I tried probing your mind in such a way that helped bypass your defense walls, so I could get you away from what ever was attacking you." I stated, as a smile appeared on my face as I noticed that she had found my pendant, and was actually wearing it.

"Thank you. No one has ever been this nice to me in my entire life. Sorry for taking your turn, but I have to know what makes me so special to deserve this treatment?" A confused look of desperation was evident on her face.

"To tell you the truth, I have no idea why, other then the fact that my instincts have told me to protect you at all costs. They only say one thing, that the answer will be revealed to me when the time is right." I replied. "I'm sorry, but I have one more question about your dream."

"Go ahead, it can't hurt me now." She stated.

"How was this Slade person able to overcome you, and how did he make this markings appear on your body?"

"The Slade in my dreams is only an illusion, his true form is much more powerful then that, and as for the markings, they are the sign of my father, and they are the only things left tying me to him. The only way to have them permanently removed is by the death of my father. Which is highly unlikely, because he commands the army of hell, and is Lucifer's second in command. There is no way to destroy him."

"I take it you have forgotten about my experience with Lucifer himself. The true reason I was exiled from there was because he considered me a threat to his throne, not that I'd take it though. My highly sensitive sense of smell hated it down there, too much brimstone. So don't say we don't stand a chance just yet." I smiled giving her my strength. "Besides, I will not allow either of us to be destroyed until I find out why I have the feeling that I've known you for my whole life." I added.

(Raven's Perspective)

"You mean you have that feeling too? I thought it was just me." I stated in shock. 'He feels a connection too, that must mean he loves me too. To hell with the consequences. I have to tell him now.'

"Ex?" I asked nervously.

"Yes, Raven?"

"After I awoke from that nightmare, I needed to clear my head before I sought you out. I went to the realm of my emotions to see if any of them had the answers I needed. I almost lost all hope when none of them had any explanations for me. Then I heard a voice speak up, and gave an explanation to the strange feelings I have been having."

"What was that?" He asked urging me to continue.

"This voice revealed itself to be a new emotion. An emotion I thought I would never feel in my miserable life, Love. She told me that you have saved my life many times, in search of nothing in return. But you have also given me something that no one else has ever given me. I feel completely safe from slade, Trigon, and the prophecy when I'm near you. You have taken away all of my fear of losing control and becoming an instrument of destruction. What I'm trying to tell you, Ex, is that for all these reasons and more, I have fallen in love with you." I looked into his face searching for a response.

Just when I had lost all hope of him returning my feelings, he did something that I never thought he would. He kissed me.

(Ex's Perspective)

'She loves me. I need to tell her, before she thinks that I don't feel the same. Oh no, she's turning away! I have to do something so I don't lose her forever.' I finally regained control and did the first thing that came to mind. I pulled her close to me and kissed her.

After what seemed like an eternity, we broke apart. Our eyes met, and I smiled. "I love you too Raven. I wasn't sure what this feeling was, but when I heard you say what I have done for you, the answer that I have been searching for hit me. I will protect you, and together we will beat Slade and Trigon, and what ever army they can muster."

Before she could respond, I pulled her into another kiss. We held each other kissing for what seemed to be hours. I licked her lips, asking for permission to enter, which she immediately granted. We began to fight for dominance, but the need for had become too great for us to ignore. We broke apart, blushes evident on both of our faces, but neither of us cared.

We sat there just holding each other, her nose, nuzzling the crook of my neck. We sat in a comfortable silence for an unknown amount of time.

"Thank you, Ex, for everything." Then I saw her hands playing with the pendant that I gave to her. "Ex, What is significance of this pendant? Once I put it on, my control over my emotions became complete, and I feel safe."

"The pendant is my crest. It has some magical properties to it, but other then that I have no idea. I kinda zoned out when my parents were explaining it to me." I laughed nervously.

She laughed and returned to the position she was in before. "Well, ever since I put it on, I have never felt safer in my whole life. But just because I love you, doesn't mean that you get off the hook about destroying my door. Cyborg is going to throw a fit when he finds out."

"Oops…sorry about that. I'll fix it later, but right now, I want to just be with you." I smiled as I pulled her into another passionate kiss.

(Else where in the Tower)

Beastboy yawned and scratched his head as he wandered into the kitchen. Some Eggos sure would hit the spot right about now, if Cyborg hadn't already scarfed them down.

He stopped suddenly, blinking several times as though to clear his eyes. There were…really weird people in the kitchen, and coming from a boy with green skin and hair, that was saying something.

A guy with totally black eyes and angel wings was cleaning a really wicked looking sword at the table, and two others were half-buried in the fridge. The girl was sitting on the guy's shoulder eating something from a can while he excavated food.

"Um…" He started, and the two in the fridge turned to look at him. The girl had cat ears, and the guy had gold eyes. Scaaary gold eyes, Beastboy decided. "I'm dreaming, right?"

The girl looked at her two companions, raised an eyebrow, then smirked and sucked a piece of what looked like tuna off one claw.

"Sure, kid." Her voice was sort of rough, almost…purring.

Shaking his head, Beastboy decided to wait on the Eggos until he was awake.

On his way back to his room, Beastboy came across something he never thought he'd ever see. Raven kissing someone.

Beastboy's mouth dropped to the floor, and for the first time in his life, he was completely and utterly speechless. For what seemed like an eternity, he couldn't move, talk or even look away from the pair in front of him. Once his voice found him again, there was only one word he could say.

"DUDE!" He yelled in an annoyingly confused way.

(Raven's perspective)

At the sound of that scream, I froze. I hid my face in Ex's chest, and groaned. 'Out of everyone in the tower, he had to be the one to walk in on us…Why me?'

I was about to turn to yell at him, but then I heard a vicious growl coming from Ex. 'Oh gods, if I don't stop Ex, he might kill him!'

I moved my head from his chest to whisper, "Please don't kill him, he is never up and about at this time in the morning. There must be something wrong with him for him to be wandering the halls like he is."

He turned to look me in the eyes and replied, "Fine, but if something isn't wrong with him, I get to beat him within an inch of his life. I don't like it when anyone ruins a moment for me that I was enjoying very much." A scowl was evident on his face.

"Oh, if that's what your worried about, we'll continue where we left off when we find out what's wrong with him, okay?" He nodded, and I leaned up and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. I pulled away, before my body said 'to hell with the onlookers'.

We both turned to Beastboy, then Ex stated, "Hurry up and talk, before I filet you and eat you for dinner." I turned to him and raised an eyebrow to that last statement.

Beastboy almost wet himself right then and there, if it hadn't been for the sense of urgency the demon before him had instilled. He looked around nervously, then he asked, "Were you two just kissing?"

(Ex's perspective)

"Yes we were, and if you have a problem with it, tough. Now get on with the real reason why you're here." Ex stated in a somewhat threatening voice.

"Umm…I think I may have been sleepwalking, but there were three very strange people in our kitchen. I have no idea how anyone could get passed Cy's security system, unless they teleported here, but that impossible. I'm so very sorry for interrupting you two over something like this. I promise not to tell anyone, I swear." Beastboy then put on a face that said 'I'm innocent, please don't kill me.'

"We honestly couldn't care less who you tell about us, but I need to know what these three looked like." I stated 'I know of only one person who has the ability to get into the most highly protected areas, with out setting off alarms, or even waking guards.'

"Well, there were two guys and a girl. None of them looked human. The girl was perched on one of the guy's shoulder, raiding our fridge. She had cat ears and a cat tail, and she made fun of me when I went down for breakfast." As he started to give a physical description of the people, the identity of the intruders became clearer and clearer.

'That sounds a lot like Lilith, that must mean that the other two are Zaru and Gabya.' I thought. "Let me guess, one guy was sitting off by himself, with a weapon of some sort, wearing mostly all black and has a beat up old silver cross hanging from his neck. The other guy, that this girl was sitting on, has a brown tail similar to mine, and golden eyes, similar to the eyes of a wolf."

Beastboy and Raven just stood and stared at me when I finished the description for him. "Dude! How did you know?"

I turned to walk towards the kitchen, and responded, "Lets just say that they were my last roommates."

"What?" Beastboy and Raven yelled at the same time.

"I'll explain later. Raven where is the kitchen? I still haven't quite figured this place out yet."

"It's right this way, follow me." Raven replied.

"Alright. Now Beastboy, I want you to wake the others for me, and tell them that I have a few people that I want them to meet. After you wake everyone, meet us in the kitchen, I'm sure there has to be an interesting explanation for the three of them to be here."

He nodded and quickly ran off.

Once Beastboy left, Raven motioned for me to follow her. "So why did you ask him to wake the others?"

I thought for a moment then replied, "If they are who I think they are, they hate to explain themselves multiple times, so essentially, I'm saving their lives."

"That makes sense, but if you don't mind my asking, who exactly are they?" she asked with curiosity laced within her voice

"Well, the girl is named Lilith, she is my brother's mate. The guy that was sitting by himself checking his weapon is named Gabia. The final guy, that has the golden eyes and a tail similar to mine is Zaru, my older brother."

"Oh. Why did you say that you think that your brother might have done something for them to be here? Couldn't they just be here to see you?"

"Well, once you get to know him you'll understand why I said what I did. If you remember what I said last night, he has killed me before. Even though it was an accident, he wouldn't just come out of the blue just to see me."

"Oh, ok. That makes sense I guess." She replied. "Is their anything that I should be worried about? I don't want to do anything that could make them hate me." She said in a worried tone.

I let out a sigh of relief. "Is that all that's worrying you? You have nothing to worry about." I leaned down and gave her a soft kiss on her lips. "They are great people to be around. They don't even compare to Beastboy. But the only thing I can tell you is to not put food in front of Zaru. He might bite your hand off." I stated with a laugh.

She laughed at my comment. I saw her face still flushed after the kiss, but she tried to hide it by pulling her hood over her head. I noticed her stop and looked to her confused as to why she stopped, but then I noticed that we were approaching Beastboy and the other titans waiting outside a door.

The titans all looked as if they were about to collapse. Robin was the first to speak up.

"I want to know why you have woken us up at 2 o'clock?" He asked with a hint of aggravation.

"Lets go in, and your explanation should be in there. My old roommates are in there, so I'll let them explain. I honestly don't know why they are here." I explained.

Then Cyborg yelled, "There is no way that could be true. I programmed the system myself, there is no way in hell…"

The doors slid open to reveal three figures lounging in the kitchen. "You might want to rethink that last statement Cyborg." I said with a laugh.

Just as I began to turn around, the cat girl tackled me. "Do you have to do that every time you see me Lilith! Next time give me some sort of warning." I yelled. The titans were just frozen in shock, while the other intruders just started laughing their asses off. "Shut the hell up. Jesus Zaru, can't you control your mate?"

Once when I got out from under Lilith, I stated, "Even after all these years of you doing that, I have never been prepared for your assault. I can't even imagine the torture you put my brother through." I laughed lightly, but then a cough caught my attention.

"Exile, who are these people and why are they in our tower?" Robin asked, his voice still held a slight laugh from the site of having the crazy girl tackle me.

Before I could even speak, Lilith gave the introductions.

"I'm Lilith, that's my friend Gabya, and the idiot raiding your fridge is my mate."

The titans nodded dumbly, and then Robin spoke out again, "Ok, that answers who you are, but I still need to know why you three are here."

When he said that question I saw her glare at Zaru. "Ok what did he do to your apartment this time?" I asked. 'The last time I saw that glare, was when Zaru lost control, and ransacked their whole apartment.'

She turned her gaze to me, then said, "you know him, he blew up our apartment."

"How the hell did he do that?" I asked, trying to hold back my laughter.

"You all might want to take a seat, this is a long story."

She took a deep breath before starting. "So there I was, dozing peacefully on the back of the easy chair. I was in my cat form; it's more comfy that way sometimes.

I knew Gabya was in his room still, probably meditating. Me, I've never seen a use for that, but whatever floats his boat, you know? Zaru was around somewhere, but I was too lazy to get off my perch and go look for him.

Boy, did that turn out to be one fuck of a big mistake.

All of a sudden, I hear this huge booming sound, and big, thick clouds of black smoke start belching out of the kitchen. I change form so fast I don't even realize it, and land straddling the back of the chair. Even though I'm not a male, that hurts, goddamnit. Gabya comes barrel-assing out of his room, blade drawn.

We both crouch down and approach the kitchen kind of slow, waiting to see what the living hell is going on. Zaru comes out of the clouds of smoke, coughing, his eyes watering, waving his hands in front of his face. As if that's going to help.

"Zaru! What on the Goddess's green earth is going on?" I have to shout over the beeping of the smoke alarm. Gabya only rolls his eyes and shoves the katana away.

"Well, I was trying to warm up some meat buns, but the microwave exploded."

I'm about to launch into a tirade on exactly what kind of idiot blows up a microwave while warming meat buns, but Gabya puts his hand on my shoulder. I feel his mind touch mine, reminding me that I love the stupid half-wolf demon in front of me, and that my words hurt him when I really get going. I bite my lip. Hard.

"Well, what did you put them in?" Gabya asks calmly. Of course the clouds of smoke don't bother him.

"I put them in that new stainless steel bowl."

I know Gabya's jaw drops, and I have to bite down harder on my lip to keep from screaming. A thin, high, frustrated sound escapes me anyway, and I taste copper and know that I've bitten myself hard enough to make my lip bleed.

We're spared further discussion as we realize that flames are rapidly spreading into our apartment from the kitchen. Despite everything we try, even two demons and an angel/vampire are not enough to save our apartment.

A couple hours later, we stand on the roof of the apartment opposite ours, looking at the burnt out husk.

"Well, this is just great. Now what do we do?" I grouse, trying to comb my slightly singed fur with my claws and failing miserably.

"Well, I know that Ex is nearby. We could go mooch off him for a few days." Zaru offers sheepishly. Gabya and I exchange a look, and he shrugs.

"Since there isn't anything else, I guess that'll have to do."

Zaru nods and concentrates on his brother's energy, and we're off.

Zaru felt kind of stupid for destroying the apartment, but Gabya wasn't too upset, and Lilith would calm down once he appeased her with some food…he hoped. He caught sight of the giant tower overlooking the bay and stopped on a rooftop, giving Lilith time to catch up as she was making a game of only touching flag poles and street lights on her journey.

The friends managed to make their way in unnoticed, and the demon's sensitive noses led them directly to the kitchen.

Gabya sat down at the table and began to polish his katana.

"Aren't you hungry?" Lilith asked.

"Nah, you know I never eat this early in the morning, and they don't have coffee. I'll be fine for a while."

The cat demon smiled, shrugged, and hopped up to perch on her mate's shoulder as he began to raid the fridge. Once she had a can of tuna, she sat and munched contentedly while Zaru picked out what was a modest amount of food for him, a double armful."

"This was about the time when the green kid came in." When she finished, the titans were in awe, I was rolling on the ground in laughter, and Lilith was walking towards Zaru to get vengeance for her apartment.

After recovering from my intense laughter, I asked, "So you need a place to stay for a couple of days, is that why you're here?" she nodded, continuing her glare at Zaru. "Well you'll have to ask Robin, he runs this place, I have no say in the matter."

Her eyes turned to Robin as if begging for him to say yes. "Sure they can stay, as long as he doesn't blow this place up too." Everyone started to bust up laughing at Zaru's expense yet again.

"Don't worry, ill keep him out of the kitchen. To make sure of that, I'll just cook most of the food for the duration of their stay."

At that statement, Zaru's eyes light up. Before he could even ask, I said, "Yes, I will cook you meat buns. But you have to buy the ingredients, I don't want you eating my new friends out of house and home, I've seen you do it."

Before he could give a retort, Lilith said, "I'll make sure he doesn't go over board."

(Normal perspective)

"Dude! What's with your wings?" Beastboy asked Gabya.

Gabya just turned to him, and gave him a fanged smile. "I am part fallen angel."

Beastboy just stared for a second, "Part angel?" But when he looked to find Gabya, he was nowhere to be seen.

Then Gabya appeared out of a vortex right next to the changeling, "Yes. I'm only part angel. At night, I am a vampire."

"How the hell is that even possible?" Cyborg yelled.

"I'd rather not explain. There would be no way that any of you would be able to comprehend it." Gabya responded and walked back to the chair that he was sitting in, and continued his inspection of his katana.

"Touchy." Beastboy stated as he cowered away from the fallen angel.

Starfire walked up to Zaru with a confused look on her face. "If you are Friend Exile's brother, then why don't you look alike?"

Zaru turned to her, "that's because he is my half brother. We share our father, but our mothers are different Species. He is a pure blooded Dog demon, while I am half Wolf." He smiled, intentionally showing his fangs to the alien girl, before continuing with his meal.

Cyborg was just staring at Lilith, as if contemplating something. "Don't strain yourself kid, the scars and markings are natural for a cat demon." She had a Cheshire smile on her face.

"How did you…?" Cyborg was dumbfounded

"She's telepathic, she can easily read your mind like a book." Zaru stated between bites.

All of the titans, minus Raven, were staring at the Demons before them in shock. After a couple of minutes of them staring like that, Ex spoke up, "Why don't you go back to sleep, you all look exhausted. If there is any trouble, we will handle it, you all look like you haven't had a full nights rest in weeks."

They all nodded, "See y'all in the morning" Cyborg stated as they walked out, leaving Raven and myself alone with Lilith, Gabya, and Zaru.

My eyes returned to where the three were standing, only to find that Lilith had started to walk towards Raven. "What are you doing?" I heard Raven ask with nervousness laced into her usual emotionless voice.

Lilith didn't respond, but the next thing she did surprised all of us. Lilith began sniffing Raven. Then to top it all off, she looked at me then to Raven, then she squealed.

"You two are so cute! Just imagine what your pups will look like!" She said as she started bouncing.

"What are you talking about?" To say that I was confused was an understatement.

She just started and me and blinked a couple of times in confusion. "You mean your not mated?"

"Umm no. Why would you ask that?" I replied.

At this question, Lilith just shut her mouth, and walked a safe distance away from us and started to jump up and down and curse loudly. After a solid five minutes of swearing that would have put a sailor to shame, Zaru turned to me and motioned to the pendant that I had given to Raven. "Were you even paying attention when father explained the meaning of this crest to us?"

"Uhhh…"

"And he said that I was the scatterbrain." He sighed. "If you would have paid attention to him that day, you would know that that medallion is supposed to be a gift of courtship, and usually given right before two demons become mates."

Exile was speechless, so Zaru turned to Raven and said, "You didn't by any chance feel any different after you put that on did you?"

"I felt my control over my emotions become complete, and the power that my father has over me begin to dissipate. Is that bad?" She asked in a scared tone.

"No it's not bad at all!" Lilith ended her swearing fit, and was back to normal. "You're an empath, aren't you?" Raven nodded, then Lilith continued. "Thought so. That kind of reaction from the medallion is really rare, I have a few more things I need to know."

Exile finally snapped out of little trance he was in, 'I knew she would be like this. I just hope Raven doesn't change her feelings towards me because of my slip up.'

Lilith whispered something in Zaru's ear, he nodded, and then she rushed over to Raven "You need to come with me." She grabbed her wrist and dragged her into another room.

(Raven's perspective)

Once we came to a stop, Lilith gave me a look that said 'start talking.' "What did you mean that this reaction is rare?" I asked.

She sighed, "I have an idea, but I need to know a few thing before I explain that. First of all, do you feel like you have a connection with Ex?"

I nodded, "How did you know?"

She ignored that question, then asked, "You love him, don't you?"

My face flushed, and before I could even respond she captured me in a bone-crushing hug. "I knew it! It's written all over your face!" She released me, and then her face took on a more serious look to it. "One more question, has any of this changed your feelings towards him at all?"

That question shocked me. "Why would it? If any thing, it has made my feelings stronger." I said sincerely.

"That's what I was hoping you would say. The only explanation I can think of is that you two have found what most people spend their whole lifetimes looking for. You have found your soul mate."

"My soul mate?" I repeated.

She nodded, and winked at me. "So… when can I expect to become an aunt?"

She laughed at my reaction. "I was kidding. You two should take it at your own pace."

I smiled at her, and started to laugh with her. "Thank you. I needed to hear that."

"No problem, kid."

(Ex's perspective)

After I explained about Raven's dream, my talk with my instincts, and our confession, he sat there absorbing all of the information.

"Well, I'd say that that test that your instincts talked about has already happened."

"What? When?" I asked in confusion.

He laughed, "Man, you really don't know about this love stuff do you?"

"I guess not, what your point?"

"My point is, that the test, was the medallion. The normal reaction of a female putting that on is at most a mind link between the two intended mates. With you two, when she put it on, you had a connection, not of the mind, but of the soul. Tell me this, how do you feel since she put it on?"

"I feel…" it thought for a second "Complete."

He laughed, "See what I mean?"

I laughed, "Yeah, I do. Thanks…I guess you do have your uses."

He was about to start a fight, when a grinning Lilith, and a blushing Raven walked in.

"Can you two show us where we'll be sleeping?" Lilith said stopping her mate from attacking. Gabya was already fast asleep on the couch. 'Man I forgot he was here. Jesus that guy can sleep through anything…'

Raven nodded, "Yeah just follow us." She walked up to me, and smiled. I grabbed her hand, and we walked out of the room. A few minutes later, Lilith and Zaru were settled in their room. When we arrived at Raven's door, I was searching for a reason not to leave her.

It was as if Raven read my thoughts, and wished the same thing. "Ex can you stay with me tonight, please?" She looked up at me, begging for me to stay.

I returned her gaze, "I thought you'd never ask. I can't stand the fact that you might have another one of those horrible dreams."

With out another thought she jumped up and kissed me. Once she released me, she said in a happy voice, "Thank you so much."

I took off my trench coat and shoes then lay on her bed. She took off her cape and shoes, and joined me. I wrapped my arm protectively around her, and she snuggled closer to me, resting her head on my chest. Soon enough we were both asleep. We stayed in that position for the rest of the morning.

Neither of us had that peaceful rest ever.

Raven dreamed about the man holding her.

Exile dreamed about beating the shit out of Slade and Trigon for hurting his beloved, and a happy life with the violet haired beauty in his arms.

Else where in the tower, Lilith was smiling to her self because she had heard the whole conversation between the two. 'I'm glad they found each other, they are perfect for each other.' She finally fell asleep, grinning. Her meddling helped another couple. She was happy.

TBC

A/N

If you want a mental picture of Exile's weapon, they are a combination of Talim's double crescent blades from Soul Caliber 2 and Gojyo's Crescent staff from Saiyuki.

I'm sorry about the wait. I just hope that this chapter was worth the wait. Please R&R.

A special thanks to my beta reader, KittyGirl18, for actually writing Lilith, Zaru, and Gabya's introduction in their apartment.

Until next time,

Sha kenren


	6. Abilities Unveiled

_Abilities Unveiled _

_Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans_

_Chapter 5_

All of the Titans and their guests were sitting in the living room of the tower. All, that is, except for a certain pair who were still sleeping in each other's embrace.

In their absence, the Titans were left alone with the three strange colleagues of Exile. The Titans were a little nervous standing in the presence of two demons and a fallen angel.

Lilith getting fed up with their nervousness and yelled, "We won't bite, damnit! So talk already!"

Zaru just busted up laughing, while Gabya held back his laughter, to attempt not to humiliate their hosts, just yet.

The Titans just stood there in shock as Zaru was making a scene. Robin thought to himself, 'What have I gotten myself into this time?' Then he groaned out loud. Robin then turned to Lilith, "Please tell me he isn't always like this."

Lilith just smiled and said, "Actually he isn't always like this," his face lit up. "He's usually quiet while he's sleeping, but that's pushing it." His face fell at that discovery. "But when it counts he'll come through."

"Oh, ok. That's good to know. So…how long have the three of you known each other?" He asked, trying to get the others to converse with their new roommates.

Zaru stopped laughing, "I came across Gabya here about 50 or so years ago, if I'm not mistaken. And I met Lilith 70 years ago." His laughter continued after he saw the looks on the Titan's faces.

Then Cyborg joined in, "You've known each other that long! How old are you? You barely look 25!"

"We have known each other that long. To answer your question, it's because we're not human. Demons and angels mature quickly in the first 15 years of life, then they keep that look for pretty much their whole lives. Your friend Raven and Exile are the same way. But since Raven is half demon, it takes longer for her to fully mature. But I think with Exile's help, she will see and fulfill her full potential." Zaru stated with a little sparkle in his golden eyes.

"Friends, just how old are the three of you?" Starfire asked with timid ness laced into her usually happy voice.

"Well Zaru, Exile, and myself are fairly young compared to other demons. The two of us are a little over a century old. But there are records of demons that are a couple thousand years old. We have no idea how old Gabya is." Lilith answered.

They all turned to Gabya for an answer, an answer which he was reluctant to give. "To tell you the truth, I've lost count. The earliest memory I have is shortly after the creation of the earth." He then gave them all a look that said, 'If you ask anything else about this, you'll be sorry.'

All of the Titans all said in unison, "HOLY SHIT!"

Beastboy had apparently missed the look Gabya gave, and move to ask him questions about god and heaven in rapid concession, but before he could start, Lilith grabbed him and pulled him away from the dark angel. "I wouldn't ask any more of him on this topic, or else you'll find your self in a realm of existence worse then Hell."

He gulped and backed away. Then Cyborg stepped back up remembering that they had gotten past his security, and wanted some answers. "How the hell did you get past MY security?"

Lilith smiled and pointed to Gabya, "You'll have to ask him, he's the one that got us in."

He turned to him in shock, "I teleported into here easily. And just so you know, you may need to update your system, it is outdated." Gabya gave him a fanged smile.

Cyborg just stood there looking dumbly at the dark angel who had just made a mockery of his system. But before Cyborg could retort what was just said about his system, Robin interrupted him.

"Lilith, you said before that Raven would mature into her full potential with Exile's help. What did you mean by that?"

She just smiled, "You mean you, the great boy wonder, ace detective, haven't seen how close Raven has gotten with Ex?" She raised an eyebrow at the teen before her. His look clearly said that he had no idea what she was talking about. "Well, they are what you call, an item."

"WHAT!" The Titans all yelled at once, making the demons in the room flinch from the noise.

"I really wish you wouldn't do that! It fucking hurts!" Zaru yelled.

After Lilith got her ears to stop ringing, she turned to her mate, and said through clenched teeth, "Well your big mouth isn't helping either!" She took a deep breath and turned to the Titans. "Why is that so unbelievable? Please tell me. I would love to know."

Beastboy was the first to speak up, "Well they just met yesterday. Isn't that reason enough for us to be surprised?" The Titans nodded in agreement with the green changeling.

Lilith just nodded, "That's normally a good reason, but that doesn't apply to these two. Do any of you believe that there is a person out there for everyone? A pair that are destined to be together?"

They just sat there and stared at her, seeing if she was serious, eventually they all nodded. She continued, "Well, did any of you notice that Raven was wearing a medallion that she has never worn before?" Yet again, they nodded. "That medallion has many different magical properties, once she put it on, she told us that she felt much different. The feeling she had, pointed to one outcome, that the two of them are soul mates."

After she finished, Zaru said, "You just had to go and do that didn't you, giving the entire explanation, without letting me interject once."

She just laughed and nodded, then Zaru walked back to Gabya and sat down at the table.

She turned back to the Titans, and saw their look of confusion, then Beastboy stepped up, and stated, "Well that explains why they were kissing…dude, I feel like my head is going to explode, can we just wait until later for other answer, please?" The changeling then turned into a small kitten and looked up at Lilith, pleading for her to agree.

Lilith just rolled her eyes, "Fine, but what do you suggest we do? I have yet to see anything here except a kitchen, and some training equipment."

Beastboy looked to Cyborg, and smiled, he turned back to their guests, "You guys any good at Budokai 3?" he said as Cyborg hit a button on his arm control system, and then a 70 inch plasma screen TV came through the ceiling, and the floor opened up to reveal two rather large speakers, and every game system known to man. This time it was Lilith, Gabya, and Zaru's turn to be speechless.

Zaru began to drool, at the sight of the beautiful system before him. Cyborg turned to Gabya, "Still think my system needs to be updated?" He said with a grin.

Gabya smiled and replied, "Your security system still needs updating, but this is really spiffy." Cyborg growled at the obvious attack on his tech. Everyone laughed and Beastboy rushed to grab a controller.

"So who's up for a loss at my hands?" He said, attempting to look as tough as he sounded, and failing, miserably.

Zaru gave Lilith and Gabya a quick look and an evil smile, then the three turned to the green, elf looking boy, and Zaru asked, "How many controllers you got?" as the three sat down to play Budokai 3.

After an hour of playing, Beastboy and Cyborg had just been handed their 30th loss by Lilith, Zaru, and Gabya. This left the pair dumbstruck, then as if seeking a way out of humiliation, Cyborg stated, "Man, Raven and Ex are still asleep. One of us should go and wake them up."

Lilith just looked up from her present game, and turned to Cyborg. "I don't know that much about Raven, but as for Exile, the last time one of us tried to wake him, Zaru ended up with a Crescent blade in his stomach. So if you still want to go, go ahead."

All of the Titans present jotted that fact down for future reference, "Well, he is supposed to cook our food, isn't he? Someone's got to wake him up…wait a minute, you said he's dating Raven now right, why don't I just wake her up, and have her wake him up. From what I've seen of him, he wont hurt her." Cyborg reasoned.

Lilith and Zaru thought for a second, then Zaru said. "It's worth a shot, go ahead and try it."

With that, Cyborg left in a sprint towards Raven's room.

Lilith and Zaru turned back to the screen only to see Gabya and Beastboy going at it once again with their favorite characters. But there was something different about this game. Gabya was losing.

'_Gabya, what are you doing? You're letting him win._' Lilith yelled at him in his thoughts.

Gabya gave a fanged smile, then replied, '_I'm not letting him win, it something called a sweetened victory. Make him think he's about to win, but then take out all the stops and kick his ass quickly before he knows what's going on.'_

After hearing that, Lilith busted up laughing, leaving a very confused Zaru and even more confused Beastboy.

(Raven)

As I began to come back to reality, expecting everything that had happened in my dream, to be just that, a dream. I noticed that I have a pair of arms around me, holding me securely to the figure's body. I craned my neck to look at the figure's face. After seeing the owner of the arms identity, I couldn't stop the blush from forming on my face. It was Exile.

He was still sleeping and his face was nuzzled in the crook of my neck. On top of his head, I noticed that his ears were twitching lightly, as if trying to keep watch. Before I could stop myself, I reached up, and grabbed one of his ears, and began to stroke it lightly.

'His ears are so soft! Why didn't I think of touching them 'til now?' When I thought that it couldn't get any better, I felt a rumble throughout my body. 'That's coming from Ex! I knew he was purring.' I giggled at the thought of my savior purring like a kitten.

"What's so funny?" I jumped at the sound of his voice.

"How long have you been awake?" I asked nervously.

He smiled, "Shortly after I felt **_someone_** rub my ears." I looked away in embarrassment, the he grabbed my chin and raised my face to his, and he gave me a light kiss. "Don't worry, you can rub them all you want, but don't do it in front of any one else, I don't want anyone else getting the idea."

I laughed, and continued my previous assault on his ears. But instead of just sitting there this time, Exile leaned forward and captured my lips in a passionate kiss. He snaked his arms around my waist, and I pulled him closer, into a deeper kiss.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO THIS DOOR!" We heard Cyborg yell, and we stopped our actions immediately, and I hid behind Ex.

"Yo Raven! What did you do to…?" His voice trailed off as he came to see me and Ex sitting on my bed.

When I saw Exile's eyes, I could have sworn I saw them glowing red. "She didn't do it, I did." He growled out.

Cyborg stepped back, "What possessed you to do that?" He asked nervously.

Ex took a deep breath, and calmed himself down. "She was in trouble. I needed to save her."

He let out a sigh, mainly due the fact that Ex didn't go and attempt to dismantle him. "Oh ok." Then he smiled before saying, "So I guess what Lilith said is true then, that you two are dating now, congrats!" Then he turned to Ex, "Now that you're awake, aren't you supposed to make food?"

I turned to Ex and said, "He's right, you did promise to make all the meals while the three of them are here." I giggled at the disgruntled face he made.

"Why did I have to go and say that?" He got up and began walking to the door. But he stopped and looked to me, "How about you help me make breakfast for everyone." Then he got really close and whispered in my ear; "I'll let you rub my ears while we cook." He said with a mischievous smile.

I blushed and before I could even reply, he picked my up bridal style, and carried me out of the room. I buried my face in his shoulder. "You really know how to charm a girl don't you?" I stated with a laugh.

He turned to me, "No, just you, and you can thank Lilith, she taught me all I know." We started laughing, oblivious to the stare we were getting from the cybernetic Titan.

When they walked into the living room where the others were, Zaru immediately got up and said in a weak voice, "Exile, I'm starving. I might die if I don't get food in me soon."

He just rolled his eyes, and we got to work. It took us close to an hour to finish making enough food for everyone, but it was an hour well worth it. While the others were busy playing games, Exile and me were left in the kitchen, alone. Which meant I could rub his ears as much as I liked. And that was probably the real reason it took so long to make all of the food.

(Exile's perspective)

'That was probably the best time I have ever had while making food. I have to cook more often with my Raven.' My eyes traveled to the violet haired beauty that was moving the food to the table. I smiled, 'So this is what happiness feels like? I love this feeling.'

"Dude! How did you make all this? We've never eaten like this before. You have everything from pancakes to these things!" Beastboy says while holding up a strawberry crepe.

"Well, I had to learn, when you've been alive for almost a century, you need something to keep you busy, or else you'll go insane. And Beastboy, those are called crepes, each one has a different type of jelly in them. To answer your thoughts, I know that you're a vegetarian, so eat. I made sure to put the meat in front of the meat lovers."

Beastboy just stood in shock. "One more thing, if you ever push that tofu shit on me ever, I'll shove my crescent blades up your ass." To make my threat more vicious, I summoned one blade for him to see.

After everyone had their fill, Zaru, finished off everyone's plates, and the rest of the food on the table. "Damn Ex, you really out did yourself this time, but you forgot one thing…"

"I didn't forget your meat buns." I cut him off as I threw him a bag. He opened it and grabbed a meat bun and looked at it as if it was a being from heaven. Then ate it without mercy.

"Now I see why you warned me about your brother." Raven said as she came up and grabbed my arm. "I like Lilith, and Gabya, but your brother is really gross."

I laughed, but before I could respond, robin spoke up. "Alright, now that we have had our fill, we need to know what the four of you can do. Everyone let's go to the training room."

On our way to the training room, I walked up to Cyborg, "Sorry about Raven's door, I'll help fix it."

"Don't worry about it. I already took care of it while you two were cooking. I just have to say one thing, how the hell did you do that to that door, you ripped it apart like it was paper!" Cyborg replied.

Zaru spoke up before I could, "Well it could have to do with the fact that he is one strong-ass demon. But I think his instincts took over and wanted to protect the one that he cares for the most."

Robin turned to Zaru, "Why would that have anything to do with him breaking a door?"

"Well, because his instincts are a lot different than mine or Lilith's. When someone that he is really close to is in danger, such as Raven in this case, he loses all interest in personal safety, just as long as that person is fine."

"Oh…ok. That makes sense." Robin replied, still in shock from how Exile managed to make child's play out of that door. 'I just hope he doesn't do that with our machines, we don't have the money to replace everything.'

"Oh, Robin, I was training earlier this morning, so all of the machines are moved to the walls. I didn't want anything to happen to them. If I used them with my type of training, they would be turned into ribbons with in the first few minutes."

He let out a sigh of relief, "Ok Exile, that's fine. We weren't going to be using most of the machines in these exercises anyway."

We walked into the training room, and Robin turned to the four of us, "Ok, now we get to see what exactly the four of you can actually do. There are locker rooms right over there." He motioned to his left. "We'll start in 15 minutes."

After we were all ready, our show was under way. Since I promised to show my abilities before the rest of them showed up, I went first.

I started my training session much like I did when I was waiting for Raven. I stood there in a meditative trance, 'Hmm, I guess I'll make it interesting for them this time.'

I concentrated on my bodies change. A black flame covered my entire body. Silver fur sprouted all over my body, as it began to take the form of a Siberian husky. When my change was completed, my aura dissipated, revealing my demon form for all to see.

'This is my demon form. I need to rest a bit, transforming takes a lot out of me.' I walked to where Raven was sitting, and rested my head in her lap. She smiled and began to rub my ears, and I growled softly at her touch.

'You can go ahead and go Zaru, I'll demonstrate my abilities last.' He nodded, and moved into position. I then saw Lilith staring at me with stars in her eyes when she saw Raven rubbing my ears.

'Lilith, why are you looking at me like that?' I asked.

"You two are so cute!" Lilith yelled. Then she leaned down to be eye level with me then added. "So how long 'til I'm an aunt?"

I lay there, confused as all hell. 'HUH?'

She busted up laughing, and Raven started to laugh as well. 'What's so funny?'

"She pulled the same thing with me when she pulled me aside this morning. I didn't think she would pull it on you though, or I would have warned you." Raven stated between laughs.

(Normal Perspective)

Zaru yelled, "I'm waiting to start, could you wrap it up already?"

"We've already seen what you can do, remember. You need to show them." Lilith pointed to the titans.

Zaru stopped complaining, laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head. "Oh ya, I forgot. Alright, time for me to start." Zaru took a deep breath, "Hey Gabya, could you get me some targets?"

"Fine, just try not to wreck the place." Gabya opened up several vortexes, and pulled a variety of targets from the air.

"Thanks." He summoned his staff, and began to charge up. "I guess I'll show you my true form as well."

A bright golden light surrounded Zaru's body, as his body began to change. Deep red fur began to grow from all over his body. The hair on the top of head lengthened to his lower back. His fangs grew to twice their length. His tail elongated, and his claws grew a little longer, but much harder and sharper.

When he was finished, he opened his eyes to look at the Titans.

"Whoa!" Cyborg yelled.

"Dude! I thought that you were related to Ex. Why do you look human still?" Beastboy added.

"First of all, he is my HALF brother. Secondly, we were trained much differently, and that training slightly affected our true forms. But for the most part, I chose this form, and Ex chose to look more like an animal."

"Oh." Beastboy replied.

Starfire had a very confused look on her face. "Friend Zaru, why did your tail change when you transformed?"

Zaru looked at the alien girl, "That's a good question, all I know is that my mother, wasn't a demon, she was a werewolf, so I guess this is what happens when a werewolf and a dog demon are combined. Now will you guys stop asking me things, I have targets to destroy."

He stood in the center of all of the targets that Gabya set up for him. He looked like he was focusing for his attack. Then, he charged up to his first target, punching it with all of his might, sending it flying at the nearest wall. If it hadn't been for Gabya's quick thinking by opening up a vortex to catch the projectile, there probably wouldn't be a wall there any more.

But Zaru didn't notice his actions, because he was caught with adrenalin to keep fighting. He summoned his Nyoi-bo staff. Which is a five foot red staff, with golden end caps on both ends. He gripped the Nyoi-bo staff with both hands, and broke it into three sections connected by chains, called the Sansekken. He took out another target using the Sansekken. Gripping the middle piece, and spinning the outer pieces in ways that would take years to master. While it was spinning, he jumped, and ricocheted off the ceiling, and took out another target.

He banished his Sansekken, and took out the final target by holding his hands out, gathering a similar light that surrounded him during his transformation. With a loud battle dry, he launched it at the remaining target at immense speed, exploding on contact, along with an unlucky piece of equipment that was too close to the blast. He returned to the ground in a crouch, and slowly stood up and looked to the Titans.

"That's basically what I can do. Any questions?" Zaru asked with a grin.

"Yeah, I have one," Robin stated. "Where did you learn to use a staff like that?"

"I taught myself for the most part. I also learned from my father, but he mainly did swordsmanship. So he was little help with my Nyoi-bo staff. Any other questions?"

They shook their heads, and Zaru turned to his mate, "Your turn Lilith, try not to kill anything." He teased.

She just glared at him as she got into position. She looked to Gabya, and he nodded, and pulled another set of targets out of thin air. She smiled evilly, and reached behind her back really quickly, and when she brought them back out, each of her hands had four throwing knives in them. Gabya had given her more due to her style of fighting, he also made the targets look have the person outline on them. She looked towards the targets, and flung the knives with amazing speed and accuracy, hitting eight targets in the dead center of the head.

"Since they got to show you their forms, I'm going to show you one ofmine." Lilith said. She concentrated, and began her transformation. He body began to contort itself into the shape of a panther like creature, but instead of black fur, she had calico. Her tail grew in length, and her claws came to a much more lethal point then before.

Once her transformation was complete, she got onto all fours, and pounced on the nearest target, clawing at it with her hands and her feet, completely ripping it to shreds. Once she was done with one she pounced to the next and clawing at it the same way as the first, but this time, she bit at the targets neck, where the jugular vein would be, and tore it off. She jumped off and landed ion a crouch much like Zaru did, but she remained like that. She reached up and took the material out of her mouth, and turned to admire her own carnage.

She looked to the Titans, "So how was that?"

Beastboy said in a shaky voice, "Dude, that was vicious. You can kill someone by fighting like that!"

"Well that's the point. When you've fought the type of people that we have, it becomes kill or be killed. That's life for you."

Robin looked at Lilith, "That might be how you did things one your own, but when you're with this team, you don't kill. We send our enemies to jail." He stated in a very serious voice.

Lilith just looked at him with a very confused face.

"How else are supposed to make them stop moving?" Zaru countered.

The Titans just looked at them with a somewhat disgusted look on their faces. They were about to argue with her, but Gabya interrupted them.

"Before you judge us, and call us murderers, hear me out. Among other things, we were raised with the fact that if your enemy still lives, then there will always be a threat in the world. So we have learned to fight for the kill. We don't ever kill with out proper reasoning, ever."

The Titans slowly began to see what Gabya meant, because in their minds, one name came up when he said that, Slade.

Gabya smiled, and turned to the center of the training room. A white light glowed around him, as he began to show his abilities to the Titans. His dark clothing remained, but a pair of celestial wings sprouted from his back. His red eyes turned completely to pitch black. Making it look like there were just two holes in his eye sockets.

Once in his celestial form, he summoned a pair of targets with his vortexes. He pulled out his 45 long colt, and shot once at each target. Each completely exploding from the sheer force of the bullets. But he had set up vortexes behind each target to catch the bullets before they did any damage to the tower. He summoned one more target, before disappearing completely into his vortex. Seconds later, he appeared behind the target, and slashed clean in half with his katana.

As he sheathed his sword, he transformed back to his human form. And walking back to where he had been sitting before he had did his demonstration.

The Titans were about to ask him questions about what he had turned into, but Lilith and Zaru stood in their way. "I wouldn't go and do that. You should just trust Gabya. He doesn't really like to be questioned about his heritage." Lilith said in a stern voice.

They accepted the demon duo's reasoning, and awaited their final demonstration.

(Exile's perspective)

I reluctantly changed back into my human form to finish what I started. I felt the others eyes on me, anxiously waiting for my show. I pulled Raven up with me and gave her a soft kiss. "I'll be right back Raven."

I nodded to my former roommates, and moved to the center of the room to commence my little show. I closed my eyes and slipped into a slight trance. Once I gathered my thoughts, I started the show.

I smiled as I opened my eyes. I summoned my crescent blades, but this time I let out more of my aura around me. Soon I was engulfed in a black flame, which was harmful to anyone that I want or to anyone who hasn't earned the respect of the dragon in the heart of the aura itself.

I began much like I did before, spinning my blades, but this time my aura was beginning to turn into small vortexes at my sides from the speed of my blades spinning. I threw out the crescent blade, which was covered with the lethal black flame.

I made the blades do a much more complex pattern in the air, having them start weaving in and out of each other, while spiraling around me. Feeling that was enough to show my skills on my weapons of choice, I quickly retracted the blades to their homes. Then as I was executing the little martial arts that I know, I reached out to Raven with my mind. 'Raven, do you trust me?'

'With my life' she replied with a smile.

'I'm glad. Can you please hold out your arms for me, I'm going to scare our friends.' I thought with a wicked smile on my face.

She giggled and nodded in response to my request. She raised her hands, and waited for my next move.

An even bigger grin appeared on my face as I spun the blades as fast as I could get them to go. The other Titan's eyes were glued on me, anxious to see what I had in store for them next.

With all my might, I threw the twin blades at Raven, making sure they crossed right before they got to her. I had them circle her a few times, before resting them in her open arms, when they touched her arms; she gripped them softly, and hugged them close to her chest.

The other Titans were still frozen from the fright Raven and I just gave them. I took a quick bow, and used my lightning fast speed to get to Raven.

When I got to her, I touched my blades sending them back to where they came from. I then wrapped my arms around her waist, and she wrapped her arms around my neck. I pulled her close, and then whispered into her ear, "You were wonderful Raven."

She turned her eyes away from me in embarrassment, "I didn't do anything, you were the one that did all that work Ex. So, you're the one that's going to get the praises, not me."

"That might be true, but my plan wouldn't have worked if you didn't have complete trust in me. If I didn't have that, I might not have you here." I pulled her eyes back up to mine, and gave her a soft kiss. I pulled away from her, and turned to the others. Lilith and Gabya had successfully knocked the Titans out of their state of shock.

"So, how did I do?" I asked the Titans.

"Dude! That was awesome! Where did you learn to do that?" Cyborg yelled.

"I learned the Crescent blades by teaching my self, as for the black fire, I learned that in Hell." I told him with a smile.

Beastboy walked up to Raven and Me with a freaked out look on his face. "Did you just…?" I nodded. "Did she just...?" I nodded again. "Oh." Beastboy then walked away to take in what they just did.

"Those things are amazing weapons. But they look a kind of dangerous for saving people." Robin said in a concerned voice.

"You mean that they are too lethal. Don't worry; I have complete control with them, as you've just seen. The people on the receiving side of my blades will survive will only a minor amount of damage. But I can't promise anything if they do anything to harm Raven." I informed him.

"Understood. That was really impressive. Is there anything that you didn't show us?" Robin asked.

"Just one thing. I can absorb any and all forms of fire in my path. Even if it is an attack used against me." Realization hit Robin at my confession. I leaned down to whisper in his ear, "Raven has told me all about what happened with Slade. I have already formulated a plan of attack to run past you." Then I added in a vicious growl, "I want to take him down."


	7. Sparring and Interuption

Sparring and Interruption   
Chapter 6 

Disclaimer: I don't own the Teen Titans.

(Normal perspective)

The Titans just saw their guests' abilities, and to say that they were impressed would be an understatement. Lilith sensed that they were about to be bombarded by questions. She was tired of their constant questioning, so she quickly thought of a way out: sparring matches.

"How about we spar, I'm getting bored just standing around doing nothing." Lilith stated. 'Phew, that was a close one.'

Beastboy froze, "Does that mean that we would be sparring against you?" He asked in a shaky voice.

"Of course, but Ex and Zaru will probably want to fight each other. I just hope neither of them gets killed this time. Especially Zaru, he can't come back from the dead like Ex can, although he hasn't died yet." Lilith responded.

"Damn, you called that right. They've already started to fight!" Cyborg yelled.

"Oh god…" Lilith rolled her eyes. "So, who wants to take me on? How about you Cyborg, you think you can beat me?" She taunted him.

Cyborg smiled, 'Damn she's a con-artist.' He walked up, "You got yourself an opponent." And they walked off to another part of the training room.

Robin looked up at Gabya, "So what about you? I'll take you on if you want."

Gabya looked up from his weapon, and stared at the boy wonder with blank eyes. "Sure, but its getting a little crowded in here, let's take it outside." He opened up a vortex, and motioned for Robin to follow him through.

That left Starfire, Beastboy, and Raven without partners. Beastboy spoke up, "So…who wants to spar?"

(Raven's perspective)

I just looked at him, "You two go ahead, I just want to watch Exile fight." I slipped into the darkness, and reappeared where Exile and Zaru were fighting. When I got there, the fighting that was happening was much more vicious than I thought it would be.

Ex and Zaru were at each other's throats. Both of them had already summoned their weapons, and it looked like Ex had the advantage with controlling the crescent blades telepathically.

'Damn, Ex wasn't kidding when he said that didn't always get along.' I couldn't remove my eyes from the fighting before me. 'It is almost as if they are out to kill each other.'

I looked around and noticed Lilith facing Cyborg on the far side of the room. 'Lilith must be enjoying making a fool out of Cyborg. He can't even catch her. Unlike her demon companions, Lilith hasn't taken out her weapons. She isn't even using her claws, it's as if she toying with Cyborg.'

I was about to look back at Ex, when Lilith began to change form. The half brothers behind me stopped when the sensed the change.

"I hope she isn't doing what I think she's doing." Ex stated.

"She is, you know how she gets after fighting for a bit." Zaru responded. Then the two continued their fight.

Lilith began to shrink in size, taking the form of a calico cat. But there was something disturbing about this form. She had tiny bat-like wings on her back. She was now flying, with her claws extended, right at Cyborg's head. As she got close to his head, she flew higher, and instead of clawing at his head, she laid on it and fell asleep.

"What the hell?" Cyborg yelled in confusion.

(Normal perspective)

Before she could ask why that happened, the clash of Ex's crescent blades, and Zaru's Nyoi-Bo staff rang though out the tower. All of the others stopped their sparring, and in Lilith's case her nap, and came to watch the ongoing battle between Ex and Zaru unfold.

Beastboy was in awe. "Jeez, if we have this kind of power on our side, fighting Slade will be a piece of cake!"

"Umm Lilith, why does it look like they are fighting to the death? It was only supposed to be a sparring match."

Lilith shook her head, "It's never just a sparring match with these two."

Gabya nodded then added. "They want to prove who is the better fighter, when really each are skilled in different parts of fighting. Zaru is much more agile and is much stronger then Exile. But Exile is a much more skilled with his weapon, as you saw in his little 'show'. He also is much faster in the long run."

"So if you know this, why don't you just tell them that they are equal, instead of letting them fight like this?" Starfire asked.

Lilith and Gabya look at the girl, and said in unison, "We have."

Gabya continued, "They don't care, when it comes to fighting the only thing that matters is winning."

"That, and Ex is still sore about Zaru killing him all the times that he has."

Everyone tore their eyes from the fight and looked at them, "Exactly how many times has he died?" Robin asked.

Lilith thought for a moment, "I think the count is up to thirty now."

They stared in shock at her, not believing what she just said.

"AHHHHHHH!" They turned back to the forgotten fight, only to see Zaru with his staff through Ex's chest, pinning him to the wall. "You bastard!" He said weakly, and his body went limp.

(Raven's perspective)

My heart froze when I saw the staff through my Exile. I couldn't stop the tears from coming as I ran to his fallen body. When I got there, I used my powers to take the staff out of him, and I threw it across the room.

"EX!" I yelled between sobs.

I almost didn't notice the pair of arms that was pulling me from his body. "ZARU! What the hell possessed you to do that you fucking bastard!" Lilith yelled. I released Ex's body, and turned to cry in her chest.

"What did I do?" Zaru asked in a confused voice. "I've killed him before, and you've never reacted like this. We all know that he's going to come back in a few minutes. I don't see the problem."

"Well you never killed him in front of someone who truly loves him you jackass. You just made this poor girl see the guy she loves die, and you don't see a problem with that?" Lilith yelled.

"Oh, I didn't think about it that way. Shit." Zaru responded.

Lilith gave Zaru a glare that would have sent the gods into hiding. Then turned to me, "Don't worry, Ex will be alright. But I need you to control him when he gets back."

My tears stopped at her kind words, "Why will I need to do that?"

Lilith turned back to Zaru, giving him round two with her glare. "Well, he'll be pissed off beyond all reason at the asshole over there. And I've got a feeling that you'll be able to control him."

I looked into her eyes, and saw sincerity in her eyes along with another emotion, love. Not the kind I share with Ex, but more like that of a family. "Why are you treating me like this, like I'm part of your family?" I asked.

"Well, I'd say that you are a part of this deranged family. You love Ex, and he's my family, so that makes you family. Didn't you say that if he asked, you would become his mate in a heartbeat?" Lilith responded.

I blushed, and nodded. Then the tower began to rumble. "Looks like it took him a lot less time to get back than normal." Zaru informed us.

"You mean to tell me he is actually coming back from the dead! I thought he was just telling us that to impress us." Beastboy yelled.

The trembling stopped, and Ex's body began to float. Then out of nowhere, a fiery portal opened up behind him, and sucked his body in. A huge demonic looking clawed hand came through the opening and threw Ex out.

(Exile's perspective)

"That fucking hurts, you bastard!" I yelled at Zaru. I was just about to charge him to continue our fight, when the sight of Raven being comforted by Lilith stopped me. 'He'll have to wait.'

Before I could even think about running to her, my gothic beauty tackled me.

I smelled the coppery scent of blood on her. But it wasn't hers, it was my own. 'She rushed to me when I died. That means that she saw Zaru kill me. 'Gods, I'm going to kick his ass later.'

(Normal perspective)

Just then, loud sirens accompanied by bright flashing red lights rang throughout the tower. All of the Titans rushed out of the room, leaving their guests confused, and with ringing ears.

"What the fuck is that noise!" Zaru yelled.

Then Robin peered back into the room, "There's trouble, aren't you coming?"

They nodded, and followed the boy wonder to the conference room.

"Dr. Light is robbing Jump city national bank." Robin informed the group. "I think this is an opportune time for us to see how you fair in stopping this crime."

Ex saw Raven roll her eyes at the identity of the perpetrator. "What's wrong?" He asked her.

"The last time we faced this guy, he was trashing an oil rig," she pointed out the large window at a rig not too far away. "That oil rig."

Ex just stood there in shock. "He was trashing something that you could see clearly from the tower! Gods, he must be a complete idiot!" Ex exclaimed.

Raven laughed as she added, "Because of my first encounter with him, he is also afraid of the dark."

"Oh gods, this is going to be awesome! I think Robin is going to have to let us take a couple battles in order to have us show that we can do this."

Raven laughed, "We should probably catch up with the rest of them, they left a couple of minutes ago," she held out her hand, "let's go."

Ex eagerly took her hand, and they were encompassed by Raven's dark magic. They were teleported to the scene of the crime, being the first ones to arrive. Ex turned to Raven, "Should we wait, or should I take care of him?"

"Robin would want us to wait to take him down until the rest of them get here," Raven stated. "But we should stop him from destroying anything else."

Ex grinned, "By 'stop', you mean 'play with', don't you?"

Raven grinned evilly, "How did you know?" She asked playfully.

"You said that he's afraid of the dark, right?" She giggled softly and nodded. "I have an idea. You do what you did when he trashed that oil rig, and I'll follow your lead."

With that, they began to play with the unsuspecting villain. Raven began her assault by slipping into the shadows and reappearing right behind Dr. Light. Her eyes began to glow, as her cloak began to stretch making her appear three times taller.

With a grin on her face, she asked, "Dr. Light, remember me?"

Dr. Light's face paled at the sight of the gothic Titan before him. Before he could even scream, he felt all of the light in the room being blocked out by some sort of strange black flame. He turned to see the source of the strange flame, and what he saw increased his fear of darkness. Standing there, was none other then Ex, shrouded in his black flame making only his glowing red eyes visible through the darkness.

"Come play in the darkness Doctor." Ex started, "Unless you're afraid of the things that go bump in the night." Ex's aura began to lash out around the petrified villain, as Ex began to laugh at the poor Dr.'s state.

"Aw, come on Ex! Why did you have to go and take away all of our fun?" Zaru yelled in a disappointed voice.

Ex retracted the black flame back into his body, and released Dr. Light from his nightmare. "Well, you guys took too long and we got bored. If it makes you feel better, we'll take a back seat on the next one, and let you have a go." Ex thought for a moment then added, "Why didn't you just have Gabya teleport you here?"

"I don't know this area at all, so I wouldn't have known where to go without guessing." Gabya stated. "I could have made us appear inside of a wall."

"Oh, ok. That makes sense. We better get going, a thunder storm is about to hit." Ex warned.

Starfire spoke up, "How do you know that, Ex? The Man of the Weather said it was going to be a clear and beautiful day."

"Well," He started. "The temperature has dropped about ten degrees, and the smell of an oncoming storm is in the air. And by how strong this smell is, this is going to be a big one."

She began to sniff the air, "I don't smell anything."

"Well that's because human noses can't always pick up this particular scent." Ex stated.

"I am not human, I am Tamaranian." She corrected.

"Ex is right, the storm will hit within minutes. We should get back to the tower as soon as we can." Cyborg said after checking the computer in his left arm.

Cyborg, Beastboy, and Starfire all made their way to the T car. Robin rushed to his R cycle. And the two vehicles shot off without looking back

Ex walked over to raven and grabbed her hand. Then turned to the three behind him. "Gabya, you going to be able to teleport them into the tower?" He nodded, and he opened a vortex and the three of them walked through.

He turned back to Raven, then she asked, "You ready?"

"Just about, but do you sense something approaching the tower slowly?" He asked.

"Now that you mention it, yes I do sense something. But there is no evil in its aura, so don't worry about it." The couple were then encased in a dark energy, and were transported to the tower instantly. Their companions greeted the two when they reappeared. The remaining Titans had made it to the to the tower right before the torrential downpour began.

"I'm bored!" Beastboy yelled.

"Well, then what the hell do you suggest we do?" Zaru responded.

"Well," Beastboy started, "We could put in a movie…" his voice trailed off as everyone's eyes turned to him.

"Kid, that is probably the first thing that you've said that wasn't some off-the-wall brainless idea." Lilith started. "But here's the next question, what would we watch?"

Beastboy froze. Robin noticed his distress, and grabbed a remote, and hit a button that made the walls on either side of the huge TV scroll up into the wall, revealing hundreds of DVD's of all sorts.

"Go ahead and pick a couple, and we'll vote from your choices." Robin told them.

They looked at the selection in awe. "Holy shit! I didn't think anyone actually had this many DVD's!" Zaru yelled.

"Well, when you have 5 different tastes in movies, you kind of have to have a large selection." Cyborg said proudly.

Ex walked up to the DVD library with interest. His eyes lit up as he saw a particular movie there. "I didn't think you'd have Boondock Saints! That's one of my favorite movies!"

"You're kidding me," Zaru rushed over to his side. "Damn, I haven't seen this movie since our St. Patrick's day marathon."

"A Boondock Saints marathon?" Beastboy and Cyborg said simultaneously.

"Yeah a marathon, we watch it a couple times the week of St. Patrick's day." Ex stated nonchalantly.

"A couple? Try ten times in a matter of days." Gabya corrected.

"Well, can you blame us, it's an awesome movie!" Zaru countered.

"You mean to tell us that you watch that movie every year ten times in a week?" Beastboy asked.

"Of course not. Last year we watched it about fifteen times." Ex stated.

"It all depends on how long it takes for us to drive everyone else crazy." Zaru added.

"There's only so many damn times I can watch that damn cat explode and listen to them howl..." Lilith growled as her ears flattened to her head.

Everyone laughed, except for a very lost Starfire. "Friend Lilith, why is the dismemberment of a feline amusing?"

"Well kid, its not the cat getting shot that's funny, its hearing the guy named Rocco ask 'Is it dead' is what's funny." Lilith answered in a somewhat amused voice.

"Enough comments, let's start the movie!" Zaru and Ex had made their way over to the couch, with the screen showing the menu.

The others quickly joined them on the couch, but Raven held Lilith back. "Is this the only thing that they don't argue about?" She asked in an amused tone.

Lilith thought for a second and sighed. "Sadly, yes. This and food are the only things they rarely argue about."

They laughed as they joined everyone else. Ex and Zaru looked at the two, "What's so funny?" They said instantly.

Raven and Lilith just looked at their partners and responded, "Not a thing." Lilith took her place on Zaru's lap, and Raven sat next to Ex and leaned on him. Ex then put a very protective arm around her, pulling her closer to him.

They were finally able to begin the movie after all the talking had ceased.

Over the course of the movie, Lilith hit Zaru, while Raven hit Ex for quoting every line thus far.

After realizing that hitting them wouldn't work, Lilith decided on another route. "Shut up, I'm trying to listen. **WE** don't need your fake Irish accents to help! Who do you to think you are all of a sudden? Conner and Murph?"

Gabya started to laugh at the two being scolded. "One would think that you two would learn after having this happen every time we watch it."

"And that makes you Rocco by default, Gabya my boy." Lilith grinned and ducked the vase the angel lobbed at her.

They had almost finished the movie without another verbal quote out of the half brothers. But Lilith could sense the amount of strain emanating off the brothers as the final scene was nearing. "Go ahead, but just this once."

Ex turned to Zaru and they both nodded, as if to establish an unspoken plan between the two.

Ex gently removed Raven from his side, and the half brothers jumped onto the table at the same moment Conner and Murph did in the movie. They held their hands out to make them look like they had guns.

Lilith had grabbed the remote and thought 'Why watch the movie, when we have it live right in front of us?' And turned off the TV.

"Now you will receive us." Zaru began in his best Irish accent. 

"We do not ask for your poor or your hungry." Ex continued, almost matching Murph's voice exactly.

"We do not want your tired and sick."

"It is your corrupt we claim."

"It is your evil that will be sought by us."

"With every breath we shall hunt them down."

"Each day we will spill their blood 'til it rains down from the skies."

"Do not kill, do not rape, do not steal. These are principles, which every man of every faith can embrace."

"These are not polite suggestions, these are codes of behavior and those of you that ignore them will pay the dearest cost."

"There are varying degrees of evil. We urge you lesser forms of filth not to push the bounds and cross over into true corruption, into our domain."

"But if you do you, one day you will look behind you and you will see we three, and on that day, you will reap it."

"And we will send you to whatever god you wish."

They jumped down off of the tables and said in unison, "And shepherds we shall be, for thee, my Lord, for thee, power hath descended forth from thy hand, that our feet may swiftly carry out thy command. We shall flow a river forth to thee, and teeming with souls shall it ever be. In nomine Patris, et Filii," They made it look like they had pulled back the hammer of a gun. "Spiritus Sancti."

Ex and Zaru then took a bow, and the Titans were in utter awe.

Beastboy yelled, "How the hell can you two remember all of that!"

"Well we do watch it at the very least, 50 times a year since it came out." Ex stated.

"That was wonderful!" Starfire yelled as she ran forward to give the half brothers one of her trademarked hugs. But Raven and Lilith blocked her path.

"Don't even think about it." They both said coldly, making the Tamaranian stop dead in her tracks. Then the two turned to face the half brothers, and tackled them.

"That was the most entertaining that movie has ever been." Raven said.

"You two were right on that time, that was much better than the movie." Lilith complimented.

Before any more compliments could be given, a loud bell rang throughout the tower.

"Someone's at the front door," Robin said as he went to a panel and typed something in. Just then the screen of the television showed a security camera feed of the front door.

What they saw, no one was expecting. There was a girl standing at the front door, and that's using the term 'standing' loosely. She was using the door as a makeshift crutch. She had black hair, and her clothing was in tatters.

"Cyborg, Starfire, get the med lab ready. She's going to need it." Robin ordered. Everyone else rushed towards the front door to help her.

Raven and Ex were the first ones to make it to the door, "Teleporting does have its advantages." Ex smiled lightly.

They quickly made their way to the door and opened it hastily, momentarily forgetting that the one on the opposite side was using it to hold her up.

Right as the opened the door, the unknown girl fell forwards, and would have hit the ground, if it hadn't been for Ex.

To say that the girl looked like shit would have been an understatement. She had cuts and bruises everywhere, and her clothing was barely holding together. "Help me…Titans…" The mysterious girl said weakly before passing out completely.

"What the hell happened to her?" Ex asked.

"I don't know, but there is something I could do to find out though." Raven responded. "But I rarely do it without the person's consent…"

"Mind probe?" Ex finished for her. She nodded, "Just do it, something might have happened that we should know about for her treatment."

"Ok," Raven put a hand on the wounded girl's forehead, Her eyes went white as she chanted, "Azarath Metrion Zinthos"

(Raven's perspective)

The first thing that I noticed when I entered her mind was that I was standing in the middle of a morbid battle field, surrounded by rotting corpses.

'Oh god, this is horrible!' I thought and I quickly went into another memory of the girl's, hoping it would be less gruesome.

The next memory that came was in was what looked like a genetics lab. Nothing seemed out of place, until I sensed a familiar evil aura. 'Slade!' I growled.

Slade said something, but it was too muffled for me to hear anything. I felt the girl panic, and she ran. Slade was hot on her tail, and was lashing out fearsome attacks upon her.

There was an open window, and the girl was running towards it as if on instinct, and jumped out. She felt relieved as her body began to change into that of a black falcon. Once her transformation was complete, the girl took off as quickly as she could towards the tower.

The final thing that surfaced before I returned to the tower was a name. Her name.

I came out of my trance to see everyone huddled around us.

"Who did this to her?" Cyborg asked.

"Slade." I stated, and all of the Titans gasped. "One of the memories I came across was Slade had her in what I believe to be a genetics research lab. Something he said spooked her, and she ran, and Slade chased after her, attacking her relentlessly. She's lucky to be alive after what he did to her." I said.

'Raven, shouldn't you tell them about the battle field?' Ex asked me.

'No, it was too gruesome, and I am leaving her the choice to tell them. I'll let her know that we know, so she can talk to us about it when she's ready." I responded.

"Did you find out her name?" Robin asked.

I nodded, "Her name is Vagare. She can turn into a black falcon. That is how she got here. I believe that she is some sort of demon, but something is different about her. It's almost as if she has been slightly mutated."


	8. Prophacy and Ritual

Prophecy and Ritual

Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own the Titans.

"Cyborg, how is she doing?" Robin asked.

"Slade really did a number on her, but she'll live. There is one thing that is confusing me though." Cyborg stated. "Most of her DNA wasn't touched at all. Only a few traits were altered."

"Have you determined which traits were affected by the alterations?" Ex said, beating Robin to the question.

"All that I can see is that her speed was increased dramatically. She could probably rival you in a sprinting contest, Ex."

"Why would this Slade guy modify her to make her more powerful?" Zaru asked.

"Think about it Zaru, from what we've learned about this Slade guy, it seems that it would be his style to make his potential apprentice strong enough to take on the Titans." Gabya jumped in. "But I sense that she isn't here as a spy. She truly came here for aid."

"That makes sense, but how can we be sure that she won't betray us?" Raven asked.

"All I can say is that with our past experiences, we should keep a close eye on her for now. But if Gabya is right about her, then we have gained a powerful ally against Slade." Robin stated.

"Speaking of Slade, we need to have a plan of attack ready for when the final battle comes. One that will guarantee that he will be gone for good this time." Cyborg said.

"Dude, with our new allies, this battle should be cake!" Beastboy interjected.

"Don't underestimate him. We may have gained really powerful allies, but he is always getting stronger. Not to mention, he has made several allies of his own. We still need a plan." Robin told Beastboy.

Before anything else could be said Starfire rushed into the conference room. "Friends! Vagare has awakened!"

Everyone rushed out of the room, and quickly made their way to the med lab. A loud groan could be heard from within the room.

"Wha…Where am I?" Vagare said as she tried to get up.

"Whoa, take it easy kid. You've been out for a couple of hours." Lilith stated, as she forced the girl to lie back down. "That's better."

"Where am I?" The girl asked again.

"You're at the Titan's Tower. You came to us fairly beat up several hours ago. I was able to heal most of your external wounds, but you shouldn't move too much." Raven stated.

"I made it." Vagare said with some relief. "I need your help. I can't remember anything about my life before he took me." She took a deep breath before continuing. "He never told me his name, all I know is that he wears black and gold armor, and his mask covers one eye. His voice is pure evil…"

"We know who you're talking about. His name is Slade. We've been after him for a couple years." Robin told her.

Vagare nodded, and brought her hands up to massage her headache away, when her eyes shot open. "Where the hell are my glasses?" She asked in a concerned voice.

Starfire stepped up, holding her hands up, "I'm sorry my friend, we couldn't save your glasses." She lowered her head as if to morn the loss.

Vagare stared at the remains of her glasses in utter shock. Her breath hitched as she slowly reached for the glasses and cradled them.

"I'm going to have to go out and buy new glasses and a new outfit, this one is in tatters. Does someone know where the nearest mall is?" Vagare asked.

At the sound of the word 'mall', Starfire's eyes lit up. "YES! We shall journey to the mall of shopping for you. Oh joy!"

"I'll come with you too, just so you don't completely lose your mind." Lilith said.

"I'll come too. I have a couple of things that I want to talk to you about, Lilith." Raven said.

"Wonderful! We can do much of the hanging out!" Starfire squealed as she floated around in a circle.

"Umm, that's great, but could we get back to the plan before you all leave?" Robin asked.

Everyone turned their attention to Robin when he said this. Ex leaned towards Raven and asked, "Is he always like this?"

"Like what?" Raven responded in confusion.

"Like he has something shoved up his ass, making him all uptight." Ex stated trying to keep a straight face.

Raven laughed, and shook her head. "He's not always like this. He just usually gets like this when it comes to Slade."

The both laughed as they joined everyone else. Cyborg spoke up, "Vagare, did you see anyone else there with Slade?"

She closed her eyes to try to remember the night before. "Well, there was a skinny guy, that had a similar body to yours, Cyborg, but he was red, not blue. But other then that, I don't know."

Cyborg growled, "Brother Blood."

"So that means that Brother Blood joined forces with Slade." Robin stated. "I guess that means we're up against the Hive as well."

"What's so special about this Brother Blood?" Zaru asked.

"He can manipulate any of his opponents into working for him. So far, the only one to completely evade his power is myself." Cyborg stated. "So I guess I'll be taking him on alone then."

Gabya started to laugh. "Hey! What's so funny?" Cyborg yelled.

"You say that this guy can manipulate any of his opponents by controlling their minds right?" Cyborg nodded. "Then I should be able to back you up. No one can enter my mind with out becoming brain dead for a couple of days."

The Titans stared at him in shock. Then Lilith spoke up, "Gabya, I know you don't like talking about your past, but I think you should elaborate on this one for them."

"Fine." Gabya growled. "I have information that no living being, human, celestial, or even demon was ever meant to know. I keep it locked away in my brain, and I forget it."

"What is this information that would cause someone pain?" Starfire asked.

Gabya grinned, "It's the meaning of life." After the Titans were giving him inquisitive looks, he added, "Don't ask, or you'll see my less then holy side later."

They all nodded, then Robin turned to Raven and said, "I'm sure Slade will be coming after you, Raven, and Ex will probably have the biggest advantage over him, so you two will fight Slade."

Ex and Raven nodded and agreed to their appointed jobs. Ex was grinning as he thought; 'Finally, I can make that bastard pay for what he has done to my Raven.'

Robin then turned to Lilith and Zaru. "Because of your rather…unique…fighting styles, I want you two to take on all of the Slade-bots. So that way, you don't have to be hindered by holding back the kill."

Zaru and Lilith were happy that they didn't have to alter their fighting. The two thought at the same time, 'I get to destroy shit. I guess this fight won't be a complete waste of time.'

Then Robin continued, "Starfire, Beastboy, and I will take on the Hive students." Starfire and Beastboy nodded. Robin then turned to Vagare. "I'm not too sure where I want you to fight yet. When you get back from the mall, you'll run a few obstacle courses, and we'll go from there."

"I want to take on this Slade for what he has done to me!" Vagare argued, not happy with the leaders decision.

Robin shook his head, "I want to see who you work best with, and you'll join that team." He said with authority.

She sat there for a little bit then finally said, "Fine, but I'm not going to like not having a shot at that bastard."

"I never said you wouldn't have a shot at him. I'm going to place you with whoever you work best with. So there is a chance you could face him." Robin told her.

"That's all fine and good, but can we get going now? We have a solid plan, and I'm just getting really bored." Lilith said in an uninterested tone.

"Fine, but don't take too long. We need to train for this upcoming battle." Robin stated.

"Let's go!" Lilith yelled, as she charged for the door, and the other girls ran after her so they weren't left behind.

Once they arrived to the garage, Lilith looked around, and noticed the Titan's car situation, or the lack thereof. "I know we don't need a car, but I don't feel like running right now." Lilith stated as she started to walk towards Cyborg's car. "Look's like we're going to take this, I hope no one minds." She said with a mischievous grin on her face.

"Cyborg might freak out if he finds out that you're taking his car." Raven stated.

"Well, if he didn't want anyone to drive his car, then why did he leave the keys right here on the wall?" "Lilith asked gesturing to the now empty key hook on the wall.

The others were in deep thought, then Raven broke the silence, "Good point. Lets get this over with. I don't want to spend all day at the mall."

(An hour later)

Vagare, with the help of the Titan's credit card, replaced her entire outfit, and got a couple extras as well. The first thing she got, were a pair of silver framed sunglasses, with red lenses, to replace her precious pair that was destroyed. She also got a couple of hair ties, to hold her unusually colored hair back into a tight ponytail.

Her hair is a deep crimson color at the base, and it resembles the color of blood, then it slowly fades to a deep midnight black at the tips.

The next thing she got, was a skintight, blood red tank top that was slightly covered by a pitch-black button up shirt. Then, a pair of midnight black flares donned her legs. Finally to complete her look a pair of black Converse shoes replaced the tattered pair that once donned her feet.

Raven and Lilith finished shopping after the first half an hour, so they were forced to follow the other two girls from store to store. Watching the other two shop for an extra half an hour was too much for Lilith. She grabbed Raven and walked towards the food court.

"I'm getting bored, come and find us when you two are finally finished." She called out the Starfire and Vagare. The aforementioned girls seemed to be far from complete with their shopping.

Lilith dragged Raven all the way to the food court, where they found a few empty tables and got something to drink. For several minutes, there was a comfortable silence between the two. Lilith was the first to break that silence.

"So, you said that you had something you wanted to talk to me about?" Lilith asked.

"Yeah, that was mainly just to get away from Robin when he was in his 'capture Slade' mode." Upon a questioning stare from Lilith, Raven added, "And, I wanted to get to know you a little better."

"Oh, ok. That's good. I wanted to get to know you better too. What do you want to know?" Lilith asked in an excited tone.

"Well for starters, what do the piercings and scars on your body really mean? I don't think they are really for show, are they?" Raven asked timidly.

"Well, actually the piercings are just a part of cat demon culture. The scars however, are my marks. They symbolize things like my family lineage, my clan and things of that sort. They also tell others that I'm an assassin. That's really all there is to them." Lilith stated plainly. "What about you, what's your story?"

Raven took a deep breath, "Well, I'm half demon. My mother was raped by Trigon the Terrible, a horrible demon who is Lucifer's right hand man. I've had to keep my emotions in check all of my life, in fear that my father would use them against me." Raven said. "Then there's Slade. He was killed by a former Titan, but he was resurrected by my father to fulfill the prophecy."

"Which prophecy is that?" Lilith asked curiosity.

"If my father is able to manipulate me, I will become the portal that my father uses to come and destroy the earth." Raven stated grimly.

"Prophecy, prophecy. It's all the goddamn prophecy's fault that you're in danger, right?" Lilith leaned her head in her hand and looked at Raven over the rim of her coffee cup.

"Basically, yes. If I succumb to my father's control, I will be forced to open a portal with my magic that would allow him to come to this realm and destroy it."

The cat demon leaned back in her chair and reached one clawed finger up under the edge of her knit cap to scratch her scalp.

"So if your mind and your demon blood were to change in such a way that you were unrecognizable to your father, he would have no hold over you. Is that correct?"

"Yes, I suppose so." Raven answered, her husky voice sounding a bit confused. "But how on earth could I change my mind like that, let alone my blood?"

Lilith sighed deeply, then leaned forward and took Raven's hand in her own, careful not to cut the other girl with her claws.

"I might have a way, but it's very, very dangerous, and I can't talk about it here. I can tell you when we get home."

"Ok, but why not here? No one can hear us." Raven gestured around the food court with her free hand. She was very eager to hear a way she might be freed from her father's control.

"There are monsters here, Raven."

"You mean demons-"

"No!" Lilith cut her off, her golden eyes dilated like she was hunting, her tail bushed out and flicking in agitation. "_Monsters_, and they have been sent here by your father. If they heard what I have to say, if they knew about the ritual, all would be lost. Do you understand me? We're not just talking about you and Exile anymore, or even the fate of Earth. We are talking about existence as we know it."

Raven sat very still, held in thrall by the demon woman's spell of words. There was no telling how long they might have sat there, had a cheerful voice not broken the trance.

"The mall of shopping is a wonderful place, is it not, Friend Vagare?"

Raven jumped at the sound, and Lilith whipped her head around, claws sinking deep into the metal table as though it were butter. Vagare flinched and took a step back, recognizing another predator when she saw one. She cleared her throat and spoke in what she hoped was a normal tone of voice.

"Um, yeah, Starfire. It's great."

"Are we…are we ready to go, then?" Raven asked, and when she got nods, stood up from the table. She looked back at Lilith to find the older woman with her eyes shut, nose raised to the air. Suddenly, those golden eyes snapped open, and she fixed them on a teenage boy ambling across the far side of the food court.

"There. We've got to go."

"What do you-" Vagare started, then flinched again as the cat demon grabbed her arm and Raven's and began to haul them toward the exits at a breakneck pace. Starfire followed behind as quickly as she could, being laden with bags.

"Now! Don't fucking argue, don't fucking question, just haul your ass!"

Lilith got them all into Cyborg's car, and floored it out of the parking lot, taking a left turn so hard the car skidded along on two wheels for a second. Vagare, Starfire, and assorted bags and boxes flew around in the backseat. Raven scrabbled for her seatbelt, terrified of the older woman for the first time since they'd met.

"Lilith, where's the fire? Are you trying to get us killed!"

"I'm trying to save you!" Lilith snarled back, jerking the wheel to the right. "One of those bastards saw us, and they're on our tail!"

Her tail pointed over her shoulder out the back window. Raven looked, and gasped. There appeared to be three large, vaguely dragon like shapes following them through the air.

After a seemingly endless chase through the heart of the city, crashing over bridges and through buildings, Lilith finally declared: "I think we lost them." She slowed the car to a crawl, and peered into the backseat. "Everyone alive back there?"

"Yeah, no thanks to you." Vagare muttered, and Lilith growled, making the hair on the falcon's neck stand up.

Lilith sighed after a second, and dropped the car into drive again. "Let's get home."

When they arrived at Titan Tower, the men were waiting for them, and were horrified as they relayed the story.

Zaru pulled Lilith into his arms and purred to her as the others rejoiced that everyone was okay.

"What are we going to do? He sent monsters after her, he's got to be serious about getting her to help him."

"I know a way." Lilith muttered into his chest, and he pulled away, grabbing her chin and shaking his head.

"Oh, no. You can't be thinking what I think you are." When her expression didn't change, he threw up his hands in frustration. "Lilith, you of all people know how dangerous the ritual is!"

"It's the only way, can't you see that?" She snarled, and turned her back on him. He put his hands on her shoulders, and she allowed him. "I need you, you big stupid lug. You know the male's words, I don't."

Zaru heaved a deep sigh behind her. "If you really think it's the only way…"

"It is. You know it."

"All right. I'll help."

Lilith turned and kissed his cheek, then clapped her hands sharply for attention.

"We need to talk to Raven and Exile, and we need a secure place to do it."

Robin stepped forward. "The briefing room should suit. Come on, this way."

He led them to the small ovoid room, everyone else trailing behind. Once there, Lilith

gently closed the door in their faces.

"This is not for your ears. Please go somewhere else."

Starfire blinked in confusion. "Is Friend Lilith angry with us?"

Robin thought a moment, then shook his head.

"No Star, I don't think so. But something important and dangerous is going on, and that can make people act oddly. Come on, guys." He led his team away.

Inside the briefing room, Lilith gestured for everyone to sit down, and took a chair herself, folding her hands in front of her. She took a few moments to compose herself, and then began to speak.

"In mating, a pair is bound together for life, by forces no one completely understands. They are completely devoted to each other, and all that is needed to seal it is a mark."

Lilith pulled the collar of her tee shirt away from her neck to show the younger pair the twin crescents of scar tissue where her neck met her shoulder. Raven looked over at Zaru with wide eyes only to see an identical mark on his shoulder.

"We are mated." He said, his voice deep and laced with a seriousness Raven had never heard, and Exile had heard only very rarely. "But we are not twinned, and we never will be."

"Twinned?" Raven whispered, but Lilith shook her head.

"There is a state higher than mates. You come to resemble one another, you smell like each other, even your blood changes to more closely resemble your partner. In effect, neither of you are exactly who you were before the twinning. This is why I think it will work to free you from your father's control, Raven. If you are not exactly Raven anymore, your father will have nothing to grab hold of."

"Tell us how it works." Exile shot out of his seat, excited.

"Don't jump in so eagerly, little brother." Zaru leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.

"The ritual used to become twinned is very dangerous. There is a substantial risk of death, and even more common is insanity. Only three of ten attempts to twin are successful, and frankly, with beings in possession of as much power as you two, the threat of insanity is worse than death. If it were unsuccessful, we would have to put you down."

Exile and Raven sat stunned at the words delivered in Lilith's calm, sad tone. After a moment, Exile reached out and took Raven's hand, gripping it tightly.

"But if it's the only way to free you from your father…do you want to try?"

The sorceress considered for a long moment. "I would give anything to be free of him." She turned to the older demons, who were looking at her with sad resignation.

"I want to try."

Lilith sighed and nodded as though that was what she expected, and she wasn't happy about it.

"The magic in the ritual is old, older than the demon clans themselves. Ten days are needed for preparation, and the ritual itself must be performed on a full moon night." She cocked a sardonic eyebrow at them. "And you must be mates first, and have been mates for longer than two days. It wouldn't be safe to perform the ritual before the full moon three months from now."

"Three months!" Exile yelled. "But her father could harm her by then! I won't allow it!"

Before Exile knew it, he was pinned to the far wall by his furious, snarling older brother.

"Don't tell me what you will and won't allow, pup. This is not some game we're playing. If you want her to have any chance of survival, you'll give it the time it needs."

Zaru dropped him and slammed out of the room, leaving Lilith shaking her head.

"You two know how to become mates. I'd start talking about it if I were you."

She left the room, following her mate to wherever he went to brood.

Exile gathered a trembling Raven into his arms and held her for what seemed like hours.

Once Raven had stopped trembling, she transported them out of the briefing room, so they could be alone and discuss the situation at hand.

The Titans jumped when Zaru stormed into the room, snarling. He walked straight through the room where they were located, and went straight to the training room to work off some frustration.

Shortly after Zaru walked through the room, Lilith came through, but her expression was much more somber then her mate's was. She didn't even look at the Titans as she walked past, she just walked out of the room, and into the direction that Zaru had taken.

At the present appearance of his comrades, Gabya muttered, "So they decided to do it…"

Robin turned to Gabya, "Who decided to do what?" he asked.

By this time, all of the Titans turned to Gabya to hear the explanation.

Gabya lowered his head, "I'm not a demon, so I don't know all that much about this particular ritual." He took a deep breath before he continued. "But what I do know is that if it is successful, Exile and Raven would change, both physically and spiritually, making it impossible for her father to take advantage of her ever again."

"That is wonderful! But why did friends Lilith and Zaru seem so upset about it?" Starfire questioned.

"Yeah! That would be awesome, why are they all depressed about it?" Beastboy added.

Gabya looked up, to face them, "Because, this ritual is one of the most dangerous and one of the oldest rituals in existence." He stated.

"How dangerous are we talking about here? Robin asked.

"If the ritual is performed with even the slightest flaw, they risk almost certain death." Gabya stated, and the four Titan's eyes widened in horror. "And knowing those two, Lilith and Zaru are going to be coaching them through it. I would advise that you leave them be on this. Once they start the ritual, stopping would lead to either death, or a complete loss of sanity"

In the training room, a lone punching bag became Zaru's prey. He attacked it without mercy, and just when Lilith walked up from behind him, the once brand-new punching bag was in pieces all over the room.

Without turning around, Zaru asked, "Do you think they can pull it off?"

"It's hard to say. They would have to be in perfect sync with one the other, and have complete trust for the other." Lilith answered, "But…that rarely ever happens."

"You know as well as I do that only three months of being mates before attempting this is damn near impossible." Zaru added. "Plus we have to worry about anyone finding out that they're attempting this, and interrupting it. We need to talk with the others, and explain the importance that it isn't interfered with."

"Gabya just gave them the basics of the Twinning ritual. We need to guard them throughout the entire process, no matter what Ex says." Lilith told him.

"And if he even complains about having all of us guard him throughout this whole ritual, he going to get it…" Zaru growled.

Lilith couldn't hold back her laughter at the weak threat. Zaru soon joined her, and all of his pent up frustration had finally slowly left laughing at his own expense.

On the roof, Ex was still holding Raven. Her face was buried in his neck, when he raised her face to his own, and kissed her lightly.

Once they had broken apart, Raven looked into his eyes, "Do you think Lilith was telling the truth about our chances if we do this?"

Ex nodded, "She may be eccentric, but she would never, ever kid around about something as serious as this."

"Oh…." Raven started, and took a deep breath before continuing. "Do you think we can pull it off?"

Ex thought for a moment, "I honestly feel that we will pull through this." He said with a soft smile.

"That's exactly what I needed to hear." Raven said as she buried her face into the nape of his neck.

They stayed like that for a long period of time, when something that Lilith said earlier snaked its way back into Raven's mind.

Raven pulled away from Ex, and looked at him. "Ex?"

"Yeah?"

"Would our chances of success increase if we were mates longer?" She asked, fighting the blush that was creeping onto her face.

"I would guess that could improve our chances." Ex said without thinking. After a few seconds, the realization of where Raven was going with that question made Ex blush. "Are you sure you want to do this so soon? We can wait if you don't…" He broke eye contact with her, and trailed off.

"Ex, I have never been so sure of something ever before in my life." Raven stated, making Ex look her in the eyes again.

Ex smiled, "I guess I should ask you properly then, shouldn't I?" He stated. Ex grabbed Raven's hand and kissed her softly, yet passionately.

Once they broke apart, he looked into her eyes, "Raven, will you be my mate?"

Once he asked, she smiled wholeheartedly as she yelled, "Yes!" She jumped on him and knocked him to the roof in one felt swoop.

Ex braced for the impact that he thought would come from the roof, but only to feel himself pass through a very similar darkness. Once the darkness passed, they had appeared on Raven's bed.

Ex pulled Raven into a long passionate kiss, and that night, two tormented souls became intertwined. They had finally found the one thing that they were searching for, the one thing to make them become whole. Completed in both body and spirit, they had truly found their soul mates.

Elsewhere, in a hellish cavern, Slade knelt before a large flaming mark of Scath, the symbol of Trigon.

A thunderous voice sounded through the empty fiery caverns, laced with pure malice. "What is happening? I feel the hold I have on my gem slipping! Slade, find out what is causing the interference and destroy it!"

Slade bowed his head, "As you wish."

"Do it quickly. The time for the prophecy is drawing near!" The voice of Trigon yelled.


	9. Encounter

Encounter

Chapter 8

Disclaimer: This is getting repetitive; do I have to keep doing this? I don't own them. End of discussion.

The next morning Beastboy and Cyborg began their onslaught of taunts as they began their daily routine of video games.

Vagare sat on the couch next to Cyborg waiting for her turn on the game, and to Cyborg and Beastboy's surprise; she could actually keep up with them. At some times, she was actually thrashing them at their own game

Starfire was floating behind the two, cheering them on. But her glances occasionally turned to the boy wonder, who was seated across the room, navigating through computer files.

Zaru stood in front of a large computer mainframe, and moved towards it, as if to take it apart. Lilith saw the look in his eyes, and let out a sigh.

"Zaru, you'd better not take it apart, I don't think our hosts would appreciate it if you destroyed their toys." She stated, making Zaru stop dead in his tracks and turn to his mate.

"You know I wouldn't destroy it. Hell, I would probably make it work better." Zaru countered.

"Is that so?" Lilith cocked an eyebrow, "Well, then I have two words for you. Our apartment."

"Well, I was hungry…" Zaru pouted, as his stomach growled loudly. Then added in an audible growl, "Where the hell is that pup? He's supposed to make food."

"He's still sleeping, though he should be down any minute now."

Everyone turned to the source of the voice, only to see Raven, and their eyes widened at her present state. Raven's hair was slightly mussed, and a genuine smile was plastered onto her face. But that's not what caught Lilith and Zaru's eyes; it was the mark that was on her neck. The mark was similar to their mate marks, except for one major difference, inside the crescent shape of the moon, was a small shape that looked like a raven in flight.

Before Raven knew what was happening, Lilith let out a happy squeal, and jumped the dark sorceress, tackling her to the ground.

"Lilith, I really wish you wouldn't tackle my mate." Ex stated, standing in the doorway.

After giving Raven one more quick hug, she slowly got up off of her, and set her sights on Ex. In the same manner as she always had, she leapt from her present position, and pounced Ex, forcing him to the ground.

Ex looked at Lilith and said, "I would really love to know how the hell you are able to sneak up on me like that!"

Lilith smiled and shook her head, "Nope, not gonna tell ya'. If you knew, then what would I do to amuse myself?"

Ex thought for a moment, and grinned evilly, "Well, you could play with a ball of yarn."

Lilith whopped Ex a couple of time before getting off of him, and returning to her spot keeping Zaru away from the Titans 'toys'.

Raven walked over to her new mate and helped him up. "Wow, you got off easier then I thought you would for that comment." She teased.

"Yeah, I did." Ex stated, "The last time I used that one, it took a week for the claw marks to heal."

"It was in the middle of a spar! You had already pissed me off by then!" Lilith yelled from her current perch on the back of the couch

Everyone laughed, and Ex and Raven started to cook breakfast.

After breakfast, all of the Titans and their guests assembled outside to start the day's training. Mainly it was to prepare the ragtag group for the upcoming battle, but Robin also wanted to see what Vagare could do, and who she worked best with.

Robin walked up to the control panel for the course, and hit the activation button. He then turned to everyone, "This is our obstacle course, Cyborg would you do the honor of showing our guests how it works?"

Cyborg stepped up the starting line, and turned to the group behind him. "I'll try not to set too fast of a time, so you guys can have a chance at beating me." He taunted, and he turned back to the obstacle course in front of him. Robin sounded the horn, telling him that the timer has started, and he took off.

First he made his way at a solid sprint, when he met his first obstacle, giant metallic tentacles that lashed out at the Titan, in hopes to subdue him. But Cyborg's sonic cannon mowed down the metallic tentacles before they could even get close enough to do any damage.

The second obstacles were titanium pillars rocketing out of the ground at high speeds. Cyborg expertly dodged them, with what looked like moves that a pro football player would use. He was out of the onslaught of the pillars fairly rapidly, and made his way to the final couple of obstacles.

The next threat was a pair of pods that launched out heat seeking circular blades at unbelievable speeds towards the mechanical Titan. As the blades made their way to him, he used his shoulder rockets to decimate the oncoming threat. He then used his sonic cannon to destroy the pods themselves to avoid any more blades being fired.

Right as he passed the remains of the blade launchers, he came to a series of gates, and the steel reinforced doors came crashing down towards the earth. The collapsing doors didn't slow him down. He just charged at the door at full speed, brought his fist back, and punched the first door with all of his might, making it fly backwards and destroy all of the doors behind it.

With the finish line in sight, he picked up the pace. But just as he approached the finish line, a ten-foot wide gap appeared in front of the finish line, making him leap across it, and across the finish line.

Cyborg looked up to Robin, who was standing at the controls, and yelled, "Yo' Robin, What's my time?"

Robin looked down at the timer, and pressed a button to display the total time on the screen on the front of the booth he was at. "Impressive Cyborg, your time was a minute and fifteen seconds flat. That's going to be a tough time to beat." Robin called back to his teammate.

"BOOYAAHH!" Cyborg yelled in his usual fashion. "New course record! All right!"

Everyone else just rolled their eyes at their mechanical teammate. Then, Ex left Raven's side, and went to argue with his brother about who would get to go second.

But before the argument could progress, Gabya had already taken his place at the starting line, and was awaiting the order to start.

Ex and Zaru just turned their gaze to the dark angel who had snaked his way in front of them to run the course. They both were about to voice their protests when Gabya's voice boomed in their heads.

'_You both will get your turns, I've been itching for some target practice, and I think you'll love what I'm going to do first.'_ Then Gabya shot them a toothy grin, and the brothers were silenced, waiting to see just what he had planned.

Gabya turned his gaze to Robin to signal to him that he was ready to begin. Robin nodded, and he sounded the horn. Gabya started much differently then Cyborg. Instead of running, Gabya was just standing there, like he was waiting for something.

Robin was about to remind him that the clock was running, when a pair of angelic white feathered wings shot out from his back, and he took to flight. Just as he was about to reach the first obstacle, Gabya opened a portal and flew through it.

When he reappeared, Gabya was at the finish line of the course, leaning up against a rock formation with his katana in hand, inspecting it.

Everyone was silent, save for the two demons in hysterics, until Lilith started yelling at him.

"The whole point to a goddamn obstacle course is to actually go through the obstacles. Not just teleport to the finish, completely bypassing them!" Lilith took a deep breath, "You have to do it again, and this time no goddamn portals!"

Gabya smiled, and teleported back to the starting line. Without turning his head, he spoke to Ex and Zaru telepathically once again. _'See? Didn't I say it would be worth it to have me go first?_

After hearing this, the two were laughing yet again at the memory of Lilith getting pissed, only to be silenced by a vicious glare coming from the aforementioned cat demon.

Gabya turned and gave a nod to Robin, and the starting horn sounded out. Gabya's start was still much slower then Cyborg's, but he was moving. He had his .45 long colt in his right hand, and his katana in his left. His slow march slowly turned into a solid sprint, making Cyborg's top speed seem like a leisurely walk.

To the untrained eye, there was a black blur racing across the Titan's course. The blur showed no sign of slowing down for the first obstacle. Instead, two rapid gunshots sounded out, and the metallic tentacles exploded.

He proceeded on to the next obstacle, and completely surpassed it before the pillars had a chance to rise. He then raced onward to the blade launchers.

By this time, the blades had already been fired, and had locked onto the blur. It seemed like the blades would actually hit their targets, when a huge dust cloud was kicked up. The blades came out of the back end of the cloud, and seemed to be unscathed. When all of a sudden, they all split in four pieces, and exploded.

Gabya was holding his katana over his head as he passed through steel doorways, slicing any of them that had come too close the blade. At the speed Gabya was traveling, he didn't even need to jump when he came to the gap. But just for a small show, Gabya spread his wings and took flight, and quickly landed past the finish line.

Robin just looked from Gabya, to his time, and then back to Gabya. As he hit the button to reveal his time, he said, "Sorry Cyborg, looks like we have a new course record at thirty seconds flat."

When Cyborg saw the digital display, his jaw dropped, excuse after excuse began pouring out of his mouth. Attempting to explain why he had lost his record so rapidly, and by such a large difference.

While Cyborg was ranting and raving, Lilith made her way to Robin at the controls.

"I don't suppose that there is a separate course for two people to go through?" Lilith questioned.

Robin thought for a moment, and replied, "Of course. But why do you ask? From what you've told me, you and Zaru have been fighting and training together for decades. Why would you need it?"

Lilith just stared at him, "It wouldn't be for us, boy wonder. It would be for Ex and Raven. I think it would be a good idea for us to see how they will react towards each other in a battle environment."

Robin thought for a moment, and then said, "That's a good point, hang on a second while I set up the other course."

"Hang on; let's let the new chick try it first. Wasn't that a big part of your plan, to see what she can do?" Lilith reminded him.

"Oh yeah…" Robin replied, "That almost slipped my mind, thanks for reminding me,"

Meanwhile…

Raven managed to pull Ex away from Zaru, effectively ending their feud about who would be the next one to try out the course. Then she pulled him to the side and they sat down, awaiting the call for the next person.

Starfire timidly looked towards the newly mated pair and thought, _'Friend Raven seems so much different than before. I wonder if it has anything to do with the becoming of mates that her and friend Exile said…' _

But her thoughts were interrupted when Raven called out to her. "Starfire, we both can read your mind. Wouldn't it be much simpler just to ask, then to attempt to figure it out on your own?"

"Yes! That would much easier! Friend Raven, would you please explain to me why you are upping the beat?" Starfire asked.

"Umm, Star? I think you mean upbeat." Ex corrected her, and Starfire just kept the same confused look on her face. "Nevermind…"

She then turned her gaze back to Raven, hoping for answers to clear up her latest confusion. Raven just smiled, "I'd be glad to tell you why I'm so happy." She replied with more emotion within her usual monotone voice. "I have found my soul mate, and I have found a way to finally defeat my father once and for all. I don't really have anything to depress me anymore."

Starfire just jumped up and down in glee, "This is wonderful! I am so happy for you both! I will begin to make the traditional Tameranian dish of…"

Raven's eyes quickly shot open in worry, and she put her hand over the alien girl's mouth. "That's alright Star. Demons have their own traditions, so that's not necessary."

Starfire walked away, and Ex turned to Raven with a questioning look. "What was that all about?"

Raven smiled at her mate, "I just saved you from eating some of the worst food in existence, so you should be thankful." She replied.

"So you just happened to save yourself from this curse as well as me, right?" Ex shot back with a huge grin on his face.

But before Raven could retort, Robin's voice sounded over a P.A. system, "Sorry Zaru, but I need Vagare to go through the course before you go. Then I want Ex and Raven to go through the secondary course, so we can see just how well you can fight together."

Zaru stormed off in anger to allow Vagare to approach the starting line. Robin added, "Vagare, you can use any weapons, and abilities you want when you go through."

Vagare smiled, and held up two thumbs, and replied, "You got it, Dude." Then she pulled out a pair of rosewood nunchucks, and the horn sounded.

Vagare sprinted as she started to spin her nunchucks at an astounding speed. She met the first obstacle with little difficulty. She deflected the tentacles, and jumped up over them. She landed on top of the origin of the metallic threat, and swung her nunchucks at great enough force to completely decimate her target.

She took off for her next obstacle with even more speed and vigor. She passed through the second obstacle before the pillars even had the chance to shoot out of the ground.

Vagare stepped up her speed one more notch as she approached the disk launchers. She readied her nunchucks, as the blades were hurtled towards her. As the blades came hurtling at her, she swung her weapons with such force that they went rocketing back towards the very guns that fired them in the first place, slicing them in half.

She then leapt into the air, and began a rapid transformation. She turned into a falcon that had the same color scheme as her hair, a deep crimson head, which faded to a deep midnight black at her tail feathers.

Once her transformation completed, her speed increased twofold as she took flight. She passed through the steel gates, and was passing over the large canyon, before the first gate had time to slam down.

A split second later, she crossed the finish line, and was perched on top of the finish line's gate. She turned her gaze to Robin, and called out to him telepathically.

'_What's my time, boss?' _

'_Where the hell did we find these people!'_ Robin thought as he revealed her time. "That was amazing! Twenty-three seconds!" He called out to her, but noticed that she wasn't on her perch anymore.

Upon a quick search, Robin noticed that Lilith was missing as well. He looked around even more and noticed that Lilith had transformed into her winged cat form, and was chasing after the transformed Vagare.

The chase only lasted for several minutes because Vagare made one false move, and got clipped by Lilith's claw, and she went to land. On her trip to the ground, Vagare quickly transformed to her human form, to assess the damage to her leg. When she landed, her transformation was complete, and upon further inspection, there was only a slight scratch on her right ankle.

Lilith landed, and transformed back as well. When she was back in her human form, the light smell of blood caught her nose. She searched for the origin of the smell, and her eyes caught sight of the scratch that she had left on Vagare. Her eyes widened in worry, and she rushed to Vagare's side.

"Sit down, and let me see it." Lilith ordered.

Vagare was completely at a loss for words at the cat woman's actions. "What the hell?"

Lilith looked up at her and stated plainly, "It's simple. When you're a birdy, you're food. When you're human, you're like one of my brats. Now shut up and let me look at your ankle!"

"Oh…ok…" Vagare said with confusion still evident in her voice. Then something Lilith had said came back to her. "Wait, you have kids!"

"Nope, don't have any yet." There was a slight pause, and then Lilith had a sly grin on her face. "But not for lack of trying!" She added.

"Dear Lord…" Zaru said as he slapped his forehead with his palm, and slowly slid it down his face, while everyone else did a backwards faceplant in complete shock of what Lilith had just said.

Lilith just looked around and said "What did I say?"

Zaru walked up to her, patted her head, and said "Nothing Sweetie, nothing at all…"

Robin recovered, and hit the button to switch the courses. "Hey Raven, You and Ex can get ready to go through the course."

Raven nodded, and motioned to Ex for her to follow her. Robin moved towards another part of the control panel, and activated the secondary course that they used for teams to use.

Just as Ex and Raven made their way towards the starting gate, the whole course began to mutate into a completely new course. Once the course had finished changing, Raven glanced towards Robin as if to tell him that they were ready.

Robin nodded and sounded the horn. Ex and Raven immediately shot off at astounding speeds. Ex had already summoned his crescent blades, and his ears were rapidly turning every which way, mimicking the motions of some sort of radar, searching for any form of danger. Raven flew slightly over Ex's head so she could see any areas that Ex couldn't.

Just as they approached the first obstacle, the whole island began to violently shake. Noticing something was off; Ex turned to his mate and asked, "I take it that's not supposed to happen?"

"Yeah, and this isn't a natural earthquake." Raven responded.

Suddenly a very evil aura blanketed the area. Raven gasped loudly as she recognized the source of the pure malice that was approaching.

Ex rushed to her side, "What is that?" He asked.

Raven looked into his eyes, "That is the same power that my father has, but fortunately this isn't him."

"Who is it?" Ex was now extremely concerned for his mate, she was trembling in fear.

But before she could respond, a very evil, very familiar voice called out to them.

"Hello Raven. It's been a while." Slade said.

Within seconds, all of the Titans and their new companions were at Ex and Raven's side.

"Slade." Robin growled out. "What are you doing here?"

"And I thought you were a detective," Slade taunted. "But since you asked, I'll tell you. I was sent by Trigon to see if his portal is ready to fulfill her duty."

"You are going to wish you didn't say that…" Ex growled out.

"Why's that dog boy? Did I strike a nerve?" Slade taunted further.

Zaru rushed up and grabbed Ex to restrain him from charging headlong into battle. Ex just turned his head and growled viciously at him.

"Release me, now!"

"Yes, release him, since the mutt is in such a hurry to start obedience training." Slade mused.

The mutt comment infuriated not only Ex, but Zaru as well. Zaru's eyes flashed red, as he turned to Slade, then back to Ex and gave him a swift nod, and released him. "Teach this fucker what happens when he messes with a true demon."

Ex grinned evilly, and turned his gaze slowly towards Slade. "You will pay for insulting not only my mate, but my family as well!" His eyes flashed red, and he disappeared from sight.

Slade's eyes widened at how fast his opponent had moved, and he searched frantically for Ex. There was a light tap on his shoulder, and his head whipped around, only to be met by Ex's oncoming fist, launching him backwards into the metal gates of the obstacle course.

All of the Titans were completely speechless. The one foe that they couldn't even best when he was alive, Ex had just leveled him with one punch. But their thoughts of victory were cut short as evil laughter sounded out from the demolished area of the course.

"Impressive, but let's see how you hold up against this!" Slade held his arms over his head, as a gigantic ball of hellfire began to form in his hands.

Ex stared at the growing ball with amusement, but he made no move to stop Slade from making the ball even stronger.

The Titans, minus Raven, were all shocked that Ex just stood there, awaiting the oncoming blast. Finally, Beastboy yelled out, "Dude! What are you doing! Get out of the way before he lets that thing go!"

Before any more warnings could be yelled, Ex looked over and smiled at his friends, but Slade didn't see the sly smile that was passed on to the onlookers.

He just called out, "Don't waste your breath Beastboy; your friend is already dead!" As the ball of hellfire shot towards Exile, and exploded upon impact.

Slade laughed at Ex's futile attempt to bring him down. He turned towards Raven, "Now Raven, that was your big protector? What a shame, I thought a demonic slut like yourself could have done better."

Slade didn't however expect the reaction that he got from Raven; she smiled and started laughing lightly. "You know Slade, you might want to make sure that my mate is actually dead before you say something like that."

"WHAT!" He looked back towards the now dissipating flame, and sure enough, there was a figure standing proudly in the very center of the blast. But to Slade's surprise, the flames weren't going out naturally, they were being consumed.

Ex laughed evilly as he began his slow march towards Slade. "You know, for someone who is always pointing out others faults, you don't really know shit. If you were half as smart as you are made out to be, you would know that Lucifer fears me for my ability of absorbing any and all forms of hellfire!"

Slade slowly began to cower backwards in what the Titans could make out as pure terror.

Ex quickly re-summoned his crescent blades and charged full speed at the cowering general of Hell's army. Just as Ex was about to make the final blow, Slade began to melt into the rock, and called out right before he completely disappeared, "Sorry to cut my visit short, but this is something that Trigon needs to know right away. Until next time Titans."

Slade vanished just as Ex's fist was about to connect. "Damn! Fucking coward!"

Robin came up to from behind Ex, "He does that every time. Don't worry, we'll get him at the final battle."

Ex growled, "Ya know, from what I heard from you guys about this bastard, I thought he would have actually been a challenge."

"He is probably going to crawl back to Trigon, and beg for a power up. So you might have to watch your back the next time around."

Ex stopped growling, and smirked at the boy wonder. "I seriously doubt that. I wasn't even using a quarter of my strength against him."

"Yeah but now he knows who he's up against and now that he does, he'll probably go to Lucifer and get a power up from him." Raven said as she walked up to them.

Ex smiled at his mate and walked towards her. Robin turned his gaze from the happy couple so survey the damage of the obstacle course. It was almost completely destroyed. He shook his head and turned back to his team. "We can't do any more with this course. Let's take the rest of the day off."

Beastboy cheered, and ran back to the tower to get first dibs on a controller, chasing after him was Cyborg, yelling taunts and threats. Starfire floated afterwards cheering them on.

Zaru yelled, "You mean I have to wait until this gets fixed to do it! Damn!" As he stormed off back to the tower. Lilith rolled her eyes and followed her grumbling mate. Gabya opened up a portal and went to his temporary room and investigated his weapons for imperfections.

Vagare walked up to walked up to the remaining people, and Raven said, "You did great today, where did you learn to use nunchucks like that?"

Vagare's expression turned to sadness, "I don't know…I don't remember anything about my life."

Ex patted her on the shoulder, "Cheer up. We'll help you get your memory back."

Robin smiled, "Yeah, you're among friends now."

Vagare cheered up slightly, "So Robin, have you decided what I will do in the battle?"

Robin thought for a moment and turned to Raven and Ex. They nodded, and he turned back to her. "You'll be with them against Trigon and Slade. They'll need some more power if they'll want to take out Trigon before he gets too strong."

Vagare grinned widely, "Awesome! I can finally teach that bastard a lesson."

Robin nodded before adding, "You need to work together on this, or this whole plan will fail. The three of you need to fight in unison, so you should really get to know each other."

Vagare nodded, and Robin walked off, leaving her alone with Ex and Raven. She was about to walk off towards the tower when Ex stopped her.

"Vagare, we should do what Robin said, and get to know each other." He started.

"Because we know how hard it is to fight alongside someone that you don't trust." Raven finished.

Vagare stared at them, "Did you two read each other's minds or something, or better yet, did you read mine? Because I was thinking the exact same thing."

They looked at each other, and smiled. Raven spoke up, "We didn't have to read your mind. We're the same way, plus we know that you wouldn't risk your life for complete strangers."

Ex smiled then added, "So what do you two want to do?"

Vagare thought, "Well, I was hoping to get more of a tour when we went to the mall earlier."

Ex turned to Raven, "How about it, up to giving us the fifty cent tour?"

"Sure, But let me get changed first." Raven replied.

Vagare looked confused, "Why would you change? You go out in that to save the day don't you?"

"That's exactly the reason why I want to change. If I don't, then we'll attract more attention than we would if I didn't. You two don't have to worry about that because you aren't seen in the eyes of the public as a 'celebrity'"

"I'm mated to a celebrity, sweet." Ex teased.

"Shut up." Raven replied as she left to get changed.

After about ten minutes, Raven came back down dressed in her usual boots, tight black jeans, a purple tank top, and had a hooded sweatshirt that was black, with the outline of a raven in the center of the shirt, and around her neck, lay the medallion that Ex had given her not even a week before.

Ex smiled, "Let's be off ladies." He put his arm around Raven, the trio were enveloped in a dark energy, and were teleported to another part of town.

Beastboy looked up from his game, "Where did they go?"

Everyone else just shrugged their shoulders and went back to what they had been doing.

Somewhere across town, darkness opened up revealing three Titans. "So Rae, what do you have in mind for us?" Ex asked.

Raven smiled, "We're just going to walk around, and see if something catches our eye."

Raven grabbed Ex's arm and walked close to him, resting her head on his shoulder. She pointed out certain things that might interest the others.

After about an hour, they were getting bored with a plain old kind of tour, so Ex decided to spice things up a bit. Raven was wary of what he was about to do, but wanted to see how it played out.

"Hey Vagare, during the obstacle course, you showed some impressive speed." Ex said, as he led them to a large open area where they could cut loose, without worrying about being seen.

"Thanks, but that was nothing compared to what you did against Slade. That was amazing!" Vagare said. "Did you really mean what you said, about that not even being a quarter of your strength?"

Ex nodded, "Yup, but I rarely ever go to maximum power. I would virtually become an unstoppable beast, I wouldn't be able to fight my instincts any longer, and I would be fully aware of what I was doing."

Raven got worried, "I take it that has happened before."

"Yeah, once." Ex responded. "I almost completely destroyed an entire city. I've been an outcast for close to 40 years now, and I have to use some of my abilities to mask my presence so I won't cause a riot."

"That's horrible!" Vagare cried out. "What caused you to lose control like that?"

Ex looked up at both women, and took a deep breath. "This is the first time I have talked about it in decades." Raven and Vagare's eyes urged for him to continue. "My father is actually a demon lord in Europe."

They both looked at him in shock, and yelled at the same time, "You mean you're royalty!"

Ex winced at the volume of their voices, "Sort of, but it's not like the system that humans have, the demon lords are made up of the strongest demons of each type. And I regret to say, Trigon was one of them." He said with a loud growl. "Well, one of the neighboring lords kidnapped my mother, and threatened to kill her, if my father didn't give up his title and lands to him."

"That's horrible!" Raven said, and hugged Ex tightly.

"What happened?" Vagare urged him to continue.

Ex took another deep breath, "My father sent Zaru and I to keep a watchful eye on my mother. He ordered us not to kill anyone without good reason. But what we saw next made me see red. This lord had my mother tied up, nude on a bed. He was torturing her. She had whip marks all over her body, and her fangs were torn out." They both gasped in horror.

Ex had an impassive look on his face as he continued. "Zaru teleported back to our castle to inform our father of what was happening, and to get him to take immediate action. I was left behind because it would have taken me much longer to get back.

"I was left to have an uncontrollable rage consume me. What finally made me snap was hearing the lord say, 'Right when your precious lord relinquishes everything to me, I will kill you and send your dead body back to him. But I won't kill you just yet, I get to have my fun first…'" Tears began to well up in his eyes, and he took a deep breath.

"I saw red, and I felt my body change. It wasn't like the transformation that you saw with me turning into my demon form. This was worse, I was still in a humanoid form, but I had every aspect of my demon form. My claws grew longer, and sharper. My fangs tripled in length, and my eyes glowed red. I roared and tore though every brick wall in my path. I killed the guards mercilessly. I left no-one alive."

He suddenly felt two pairs of arms wrap around him, and he opened his to see that his mate and Vagare were hugging him tightly. They looked into his eyes, and Raven said, "You don't have to continue if it is too hard for you to do it. "

He took a deep breath, "I can't stop now, you two deserve to know the ending of this story."

"Take your time." Vagare said.

"I had finally reached the room that my mother was being kept in, and I heard screaming. With one punch, I took out the solid metal doors, and charged at the bastard. I had him by his chest. I stuck my claws into him and had them placed around his heart, and lifted him clearly off the ground. I watched him squirm and he begged for his life. I just laughed as I slowly crushed his heart, killing him slowly. When the job was done, I threw him to the ground, and passed out my self."

Both women released him, and gave him sympathetic looks. Vagare spoke up first, "You did what you had to do in order to save your mother. There was nothing else you could have done.

"I know, but I try not to dwell on things that happen in the past." Ex said with a sigh. "The real reason I brought you here is that I wanted to race you, Vagare." He grinned.

The mood surrounding the trio lifted significantly, "That sounds like fun, but which form?"

"I say we use our animal forms, just to make things interesting." Ex stated. "But I probably have much more experience with this, so I'll give you a handicap."

"What would that be?" Vagare questioned.

Ex grinned widely before saying, "Raven will ride on my back."

Raven's eyes widened, and Vagare quickly said, "Deal."

Both were already mostly transformed before Raven could voice her objections. As the two finished, Raven noticed that Ex was noticeably larger then the last time she saw him transform.

'_I was holding back the last time I transformed, if I really wanted to, I could grow to the size of an average sized house. But that uses more energy.' _Ex told her.

"Oh...ok, that makes sense." Raven replied.

'_Ok, we're going to go to the end of the field. Raven, would you do the honor of starting us?' _Ex stated

"Alright," Raven said as she got on his back. "On your mark," Ex walked up to the starting line while Vagare was hovering to his right. "Get set," Ex lowered his head getting into a streamline position. "Go!" The two shot off, Ex was traveling a speeds great enough to leave the remains of a silver streak. Vagare shot off to the sky and got some altitude so she could do a power dive in order to double her speed.

Ex immediately took the lead due to his experience, but she wasn't too far behind. To Raven, everything was a blur, so she gripped Ex's fur harder. Vagare began the dive, and rapidly closed the gap between the dueling demons.

The finish line was fast approaching, and Ex still had the lead, but the distance between them was reducing by the second. But Vagare was losing her momentum from her dive. It was clear that Ex would win this race, but he was impressed that she could keep up so well.

They passed the finish line, and Ex indeed came out victorious. The two stopped, and transformed back to their humanoid forms.

"You're the first person in a while that was able to even keep up with me, that's great!" Ex praised.

Her reply was cut short by a loud screech that sounded out over the field. The three of them looked towards the source of the noise, Raven and Vagare gasped in horror as they saw the very figures that chased them from the mall.

"What the hell are those things!" Ex yelled.

"Those are the monsters that chased us at the mall! Lilith told us to be careful about them. Damnit!" Raven yelled.

"So these things managed to spook Lilith? Then this should be fun." Ex grinned.

The monster that was hidden in the shadows revealed itself. It looked like a giant lizard like creature, but had a humanoid body. Large leathery bat like wings graced its back, and had vicious claws on both its feet and hands.

Ex stared at the beast, "What the hell is that thing?"

"That is one of my father's soldiers. They are ruthless killers! Be careful!"

Ex nodded, "I'll take care of scaly here, you two stand back. Raven, put up a barrier to protect you!" He charged the monster and summoned his weapons. The monster extended its claws and lunged at Ex at an astounding speed.

The monster dodged Ex's first assault, and countered with an attack of its own to his chest. Ex jumped back just as the claws were about to graze his chest. The two combatants seemed to be almost even in strength, but Ex still had the advantage in speed.

The two traded blows and both showed signs of fatigue. The monster let out a loud roar and landed a blow at Ex's chest, sending him flying back, and away form the Raven and Vagare.

"Ex!" Raven yelled, and accidentally lost some power from her shield.

The monster completely ignored the fallen demon, and rushed straight at the weakened barrier. It had broken through the barrier before Raven could strengthen it again. Vagare pulled out her nunchucks and prepared to protect her newfound friend. The monster caught the nunchucks and tossed them aside. It raised a fist to knock Vagare out of the way.

Off in the distance, a pair of eyes began to slightly glow red. Ex got up and shot the chained blade out at the monster. The chain caught the monster's arm, and Ex gave it a quick pull and severed the monster's arm from its body.

"Don't you dare touch either of them." Ex growled as the blade retracted back to its rightful place.

The monster shook off the pain it was feeling from the severed limb, and quickly raised his other hand to attack. Once again, a chained blade shot out, and caught the limb. Ex saw that the monster was about to take flight so he shot the second chained blade out and caught its wings.

"I told you not to touch them!" Ex yelled and he pulled back with both arms and cut off its remaining arm and both wings in one swift movement.

The monster roared out in pain, and with its last bit of strength it charged Ex. But it didn't even make it half way before it dropped dead. Ex pulled out the blade from the creature's neck and banished his weapons. He rushed to his mate and Vagare's side.

"Are you two alright?" He asked, his eyes still glowing slightly. "He didn't get you did he?"

They both shook their heads, "No, you got it before it could get up."

Vagare stared at him in both shock and confusion. "Why did you risk your life to save us? Well, I know why you saved Raven, but why me?"

Ex looked up from his mate and smiled. "I saved you because you have earned my trust, and right now, I consider you part of my pack. Dog demons protect those in their pack." Ex told her. "Lets get back to the tower; I think we've had enough excitement for one night."

They nodded in agreement, and Ex looked to Raven who was preparing to teleport them back. "Why don't we take the scenic route instead."

"What do you mean, scenic route?" Raven asked.

Five minutes later, the three were airborne. Raven and Vagare were mounted on a transformed Ex. Ex had yet again showed them a much larger size of his animal form, and he was jumping across the sky, and they made it back to the tower within ten minutes.

They jumped off his back, he transformed back, and the three walked into the tower, and all eyes turned to them.

"Dude! Where did you guys go?" Beastboy exclaimed.

"Yeah, we heard something that sounded like a loud roar. What happened?" Cyborg added.

"One of the monsters that attacked us in the mall found us. Ex killed it in order to save us." Raven said plainly.

Lilith's eyes shot open, "Were there any others there?"

"None of us sensed any more of those bastards there." Ex replied.

"Are any of you hurt, my friends?" Starfire asked in concern.

Vagare looked at her, "Raven and I are alright, but that thing hit Ex in the chest."

She rushed up to him, "Friend Ex, are you injured?"

Ex groaned, "I'm fine, it already healed. And I told you to stop…you know what, never mind…"

Gabya called out to Ex, "What did that thing look like?"

Ex thought for a second, "Just picture a smaller version of Godzilla, but it has wings. That's basically what attacked us."

He let out a breath, "Then I wouldn't start celebrating just yet. Those are basically the foot soldiers of Hell's army. You have to start worrying when the elites come into the picture."

"Wait, you mean those things that came after you a couple years ago? What did we call those things again?"

"Oh you mean the Whatchmafuckits. Those things were a bitch to beat." Zaru stated.

"What does the 'Whatchmafuckit' look like?" Robin interjected.

"Well for starters, they're big, and if I remember correctly, they have a bluish colored fur completely covering their bodies. Their eyes glow a deep red, and have extremely long and sharp claws." Lilith stated.

"Yeah, and they attack anything their master has deemed as an enemy. They may look weak, but they're not. They gave us a run for our money." Zaru continued. "They are fast, and attack without hesitation."

"And they don't feel pain at all; they are almost the perfect killing machine." Gabya finished.

"We'll have to up the training in the morning, but right now we should relax." Robin said.

"Let's watch a movie." Beastboy suggested.

"Which one?" Raven said.

"Uhhhh…." Beastboy started.

Lilith rolled her eyes, "Just pick one, green boy."

After several moments of searching, Beastboy yelled, "Ah ha! Found it!"

"What'd you pick BB?" Cyborg said.

Beastboy stood up and faced everyone. "Only the sequel to the scariest movie ever! Wicked Scary 2!"

All of the Titan's faces paled, and turned to Raven.

"What?" Ex asked.

"When we saw the first movie, my emotions went all haywire and basically recreated the movie. So they think it will happen again." Raven responded irritably.

"Oh, ok. This is gonna be good." Ex said with a grin.

Beastboy put the movie on and hit play. The movie played, the Titans, minus Raven, were either adverting their eyes, or watching in horror. While their demon guests on the other hand were watching on with amusement.

At the end of the movie, Robin and Cyborg were hiding their eyes slightly; Beastboy had long since ran to the bathroom and started puking from the sight of all the blood. And Starfire had jumped behind the couch and was peering over the edge, staring at the screen timidly.

Everyone else in the room was either laughing and making comments at the movie, or laughing and making fun of the Titans that were actually cowering in fear.

Beastboy came back into the room, "What's so funny?" He yelled in confusion.

They all stared at Beastboy, and Ex spoke in a humorous tone. "Because, Beastboy, we have lived through events that were much worse than that film."

Beastboy's eyes widened and turned towards Ex. "What sort of events are we talking about here?"

Ex gave a quick glance towards Raven and the others, and said, "Well for starters, I lost control and slaughtered over one hundred demons and reveled in the feeling of the kill."

Vagare stepped, "And I woke up in the center of a battlefield, surrounded by corpses, and having no memory as to why I were there."

"And getting attacked by a creature much scarier than that." Raven added.

"If you've been on the receiving end of God's wrath as I have." Gabya stated.

"If you've fought monsters and demons much uglier then that." Zaru added.

Lilith looked up at everyone else, and added finally while gesturing to Zaru, "If you've seen him eat a restaurant out of business multiple times."

The other Titans stared in shock for a while Beastboy broke the silence. "Whoa…."

"I guess that would explain why you all thought the movie was funny then…" Cyborg said in shock.

"We should get some rest, especially you two." Lilith motioned to Ex and Raven. "We have a lot of work to do to prepare for the ritual."

Everyone nodded and left for their rooms.

Elsewhere, deep underground beneath the city, Slade knelt before a flame glyph.

"It is as you suspected Master." Slade stated. "Someone is interfering with your link with Raven."

"Who!" Trigon's voice boomed.

"A demon by the name Exile has taken your daughter as a mate." Slade said. "And he also has the ability to absorb any form of fire."

"What! Exile is there?" A voice boomed out, one that was filled with much more malice yelled.

"Lord Lucifer!" Trigon yelled.

"Sire?" Slade questioned.

Lucifer ignored his question, "I will give the power to be able to ascend to his level, and give you the power to fight him."

"Yes sir." Slade bowed, and a blood red flame shot out and sucked into his body. Slade began to radiate with more power then he thought he would ever have, and he began to laugh evilly.

"Now Slade, go and prepare the troops for the final assault on the planet Earth." Trigon ordered.

"As you wish." And Slade slipped through a flame portal and disappeared from the cavern.

"Soon the Universe shall tremble at the power of Hell's army!" Trigon's voice boomed, echoing in the vast caverns, and the flame glyph dissipated back into nothingness.


	10. Dilemma

Dilemma

Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Don't own em'…

Throughout the Titans Tower, all was silence. The game room was empty, and seemed to have been left unused for the entire day as of yet. The training room was equally silent. At first glance, one would believe for it to be completely empty.

But, upon closer inspection, two beings could be found in one of the spare rooms of the tower.

"Where the hell is everyone?" Zaru growled out in an agitated voice.

Lilith rolled her eyes, "You mean you don't remember everyone else saying that they were going out. Robin said something about giving everyone the day off for some R&R."

"Oh Yea…" He replied. "I remember now. But where is Gabya, I know that he wouldn't go with them, to where ever they went."

"I think he went off on his own, if I'm guessing correctly he probably went to an old church, you know how he is."

"That makes sense." Zaru nodded. A few seconds went by then realization hit him like a sledgehammer. Zaru got a huge grin on his face, and turned to his mate. "So, we're here, alone then." Lilith nodded, giving him a fanged grin. "And they aren't expected to be back for several hours, right?"

"Yup." Lilith grinned even wider. Zaru turned completely towards her and she tackled him to the ground, capturing his lips in a passionate kiss.

Zaru broke the kiss off, "So, which room you wanna do it in?"

"Don't give a shit, just pick one!" Lilith growled and Zaru got up and took off towards the closest room, which just so happened to be the entertainment room.

Zaru playfully threw Lilith onto the couch, and pounced on her.

Immediately she began removing his shirt as she latched onto his lips. They broke their kiss, and Zaru made quick work of her shirt, and tossed it away.

Their lips moved to meet once again, but a loud explosion shook the tower.

"Oh fucking hell!" Lilith yelled and stomped off to the origin of the explosion.

Outside the tower, stood an army, and leading this army was none other then Slade.

Slade was in for the surprise of his life when the doors were pushed open with such force that they were ripped off of their hinges, and out stormed a very pissed demoness. A half naked pissed demoness.

"What the hell?" Slade's eyes went wide at the sight of the half naked demoness.

Shortly after Lilith stormed out of the tower, Zaru ran out, while attempting to fasten his pants as he tried to chase after his enraged mate.

"Lilith, What the hell do you think your doing?" Zaru shouted as he tossed a piece of fabric at the aforementioned cat demon. "Put this on!"

Lilith halted her rampage, turned around, and cocked her head. "Why?"

"Because Lilith," Zaru started as he pointed towards the army that waited to kill them. "They're looking!"

She rolled her eyes, "Fine." She said as she put her shirt on. "Can I kill them now?"

"Yes you can Lilith." Zaru patted her on the head and returned to finish putting his pants on.

Suddenly a laud roar of laughter rang out from the army, even Slade was laughing slightly.

"What the hell are you laughing at?" Lilith yelled.

"This is one of Lucifer's personal armies, and you believe that you can take them all on by your self." Slade chuckled evilly.

"Is that so…" Lilith snarled out. She and took off charging towards the army. As she picked up speed, she reached behind her back and pulled out two handfuls of throwing knives, and hurled them at the front line.

As the front line dropped dead, the once booming laughter turned to that of a menacing growl.

"You were saying?" Lilith taunted.

Slade growled and yelled, "ATTACK!" and the remains of the army charged at the cat demoness.

Lilith grinned and charged on her own, changing as she reached the oncoming force. By the time the battle began, Lilith had transformed into her humanoid panther form, and began to tear through the lines of the army with little difficulty.

Zaru looked upon the carnage with amusement, and turned his gaze to see a very shocked Slade. He grinned evilly, and crept silently until be was beside Slade.

"You know, I don't remember Hell's army being this weak." Zaru taunted Slade.

Slade growled, and sent an elbow flying at Zaru's head, which he easily dodged.

"How can you two be so powerful? Lord Lucifer said that Exile was the strongest demon he has ever faced!" Slade yelled as he threw punch after punch relentlessly at the demon.

Zaru let out a loud laugh, "How do you think my brother went to Hell in the first place? I killed him."

Slade slowly turned his gaze to his once great army, only to see that only a select few remained standing.

"What the hell?" How is that possible?" Slade shouted.

Zaru laughed, "Ya' know, from what I've heard about you, I would have thought that you would have expected this."

Slade's Gaze returned to the demon mocking him. Zaru Grinned as he motioned back to the battle field towards an extremely pissed off demoness.

"Ya' know, you might want to take off before she gets over here."

Slade composed himself, "Right. This has been certainly educational. Until next time…" and he melted into the ground in retreat.

Lilith stormed over, "Where the hell is that bastard!"

"He Took off. Said something along the lines of this being 'Educational'" He replied

"What the hell happened here!" Cyborg yelled once he saw the dismembered bodies of demons that littered the island.

The Titans stood upon the shore of their island, facing what looked to be a horrid battle field. Their eye's turned to the two demons that stood on the outskirts of the carnage.

Zaru smiled and responded "The cause of what you see actually originated from the deepest pits of hell. So essentially, you answered your own question."

Beastboy paled as realization hit him, "Dudes, please tell me that we aren't facing these…things…in this huge battle thing that's gunna happen…"

Lilith breathed in deeply in order to calm herself down just as Ex, Raven, and Vagare came into view.

Ex took in the look of the massacre before him, and let out a whistle, "Jesus Lilith, Who pissed you off?"

Everyone looked towards the direction that the three were coming from and came across Gabya, his sword drawn, and blood from battle.

"Probably the same people who attacked me...Which tells me one thing." Gabya stated grimly.

"What does this tell you friend?" Starfire questioned timidly.

"He means that the battle against Hell is closer then we had planned." Zaru recognized where Gabya was going.

Everyone paled and turned towards Ex and Raven.

Lilith turned her gaze towards the ground, "This also means that the ritual will have to take place on the upcoming full moon." Her voice trembled as she added, "So the chance for failure has grown exponentially…"

The Titans reacted towards this news each in their own particular manner. Robin's eyes narrowed as he thought about any way to extend their friends preparation time. Starfire jumped back and her eyes began to water as she began to say a prayer in her native language for her friend's safety. Cyborg's computer half of his brain began calculating the chances of success, and attempting to predict when and where the battle would take place. Beastboy's eye's went wide, and said "Dude! This sucks!"

Raven however, turned to her mate to gauge his reaction to the news. Ex returned her gaze and his eyes showed her exactly what she was looking for. Confidence, unwavering confidence. She smiled lightly and looked towards Lilith and Zaru.

"We should get started with preparing then," She said lightly.

Ex smiled at her decision and nodded in agreement.

Lilith saw the interaction between the two, and smiled softly. She leaned towards her mate's ear and whispered something; he nodded and made his way over towards where Gabya was standing.

Lilith turned towards Robin, "While we're working with Exile and Raven, you guys need to work with Gabya and learn the weaknesses of these creatures." She motioned towards the remains of the army.

He nodded and turned and walked towards the Titans and explained the new plan to them and walked off into the direction that Gabya was standing with Zaru.

Zaru leaned into Gabya's ear, "We need you to help train them while Lilith and I work with Raven and Exile on the ritual." Gabya nodded. "Also, try to get them to forget their no killing rule."

Gabya grinned and nodded, "I'll try, but it will be difficult." He went quiet for a second, and added, "Hell, I think I have a couple of ideas to make the green kid's transformations more interesting."

The laughed, and Zaru left to return to his mates side, and Gabya walked towards the titans.

(Gabya's point of view)

I turned my gaze to the group that was placed under my tutelage, 'This is going to harder then I anticipated…'

"Alright, you all need to learn the weakness of these demons and monsters that we will face. But first, you need to get all of the notions that this battle can be won with a life being lost."

Starfire gasped at the thought that she would have to actually kill a living creature. Robin was about to voice an objection to this topic, but Gabya cut him off.

"Before you start preaching to me about morals, let me tell you this. The creatures that we are about to face will show you no mercy, and will fight until they are dead. Most of these demons are lower class demons, so the only true way to stop them, is to pierce their hearts, or beheading them.

"This also means that you will either need to learn a new weapon, or modify an existing weapon."

Beastboy eyes light up, "So this means I get have a weapon now?" He asked hopefully.

Gabya grinned, "No." Beastboy's face fell, and Gabya added, "I will be teaching you new and more powerful creatures to transform into."

"Like what?" Beastboy asked in confusion.

"What do you know about creatures of myth…?" Gabya grinned.

(With Ex and Raven)

Lilith walked up to Raven, "Your coming with me. We have a lot of preparation we have to do, and the Full moon is fast approaching."

"What do we have to do?" Raven asked.

"For starters, you have to learn the chant, we have to get you a new wardrobe for the ritual, and I have to teach you the demoness' part in the ritual."

"Oh…" Raven said. "Wait, what do you mean, new wardrobe?"

Lilith rolled her eyes, "Don't worry, it's just for the ten days of the ritual. After that you're free to continue with your current outfit."

(With Ex and Zaru)

Ex looked towards Zaru in confusion. "OK, what's gunna happen?"

Zaru returned Ex's gaze, "We need to prepare for the ritual. I need to tell you what the male chant is, you have to get a new outfit for this ritual, and I have to teach you how this actually works."

"Oh." Ex looked towards the ground, "What do you think our odds are at pulling this off?"

"I'm not going to lie to you, this is extremely dangerous. That's why so many demons avoid even teaching it to their children. Of the demons that actually attempted this ritual, only a select few have ever pulled it off…" Ex looked at the ground with a grim look on his face. "But, you have what most living beings don't."

Ex grinned and looked at Zaru, "Yeah, I have my Raven."

Zaru laughed, "Come on, let's get you ready. Just to warn you, we won't be seeing our mate's all that often."

Ex groaned as Zaru pulled him off into the tower.

(With Gabya and the Titans)

Beastboy was dumbstruck, "Creatures of myth…What are they?"

Robin smacked himself in the forehead, "Of course! Why didn't we attempt those earlier, when you found out you could do that creature on Tamaran?"

"Umm…What are these creatures of myth?" Starfire asked innocently.

Gabya took a deep breath, "Creatures of myth are creatures that most people believe only exist in myths or legends. But they truly do exist, but in order to actually encounter one, the person must either wield magical powers, or have the creature deem them worthy of their presence." Gabya explained.

"Some examples of these creatures are the fabled Unicorn, the powerful Dragons, and Cerberus, the tree-headed guardian of the under world."

Cyborg looked from Gabya to Beastboy, and turned back to Gabya, "You mean to tell us that you're gunna attempt to teach BB here either magic, or make him worthy of these creatures?" Gabya nodded, and Cyborg busted up laughing, "Good luck with that, just about the only things that he'll understand are videogames and tofu."

Beastboy growled at the mechanical Titan, "That may be true, but I have some rather…Unique techniques that will speed up the process"

Beastboy's eyes widened, "What do you mean by unique?"

Gabya grinned evilly, "Oh, you'll see." He then turned to Cyborg, "From what I've heard, Robin and yourself are the only members of your team, other then Raven, to face anything remotely to what we are about to face."

Robin nodded, "A lot of interesting things happen when you're Batman's Protégé."

Cyborg thought for a second, "Yeah, but the things I faced weren't demons or even natural beings, they were created by a dark witch, and I had an army's assistance. I doubt I could have done it alone."

Gabya nodded, "If I'm not mistaken, you still have the armor and sword that you were given, do you not?"

Cyborg nodded, "Yeah, but I seriously doubt that they will have the ability to fight these demons."

"Well, you should spend your time attempting to create more up to date versions of the armor and weapon. When you're finished, come to either Raven or myself and one of us will bless the blade to give it more power against these monsters."

Beastboy did a double take, "Wait, I thought that Raven was demon, and I'm no expert, but I don't think that demons can bless anything."

Gabya was quirked an eyebrow, "That is correct, demons cannot bless any object. But Raven is a half breed demon. This means she is part human, and I believe that her mother was actually one of the first breed angels ever. So this tells me that Raven has Angelic blood within her, while is also why she has the ability to heal herself and others. A normal demon doesn't have that ability."

"How do you know all this? Raven has never told us about any of this." Robin stated.

"I can sense some divine energy interlaced within her aura."

Gabya turned to Starfire, "I believe that you should attempt to learn a weapon similar to Ex's double crescent blades, although, I think a pair of daggers of some form would work."

Star nodded timidly, "Of course friend Gabya. But may I ask a question?"

"Go right ahead"

"Why do I to learn such a small weapon, when my starbolts can be fired from greater distances?"

He nodded, "Well, of all the members on your team, you and Raven are the only ones that have limited abilities. If for some reason your starbolts cease to work, you need to have a weapon in reserved."

"Oh alright, but why these Daggers that you spoke of?" Starfire asked.

"From what I've seen from your fighting style, you depend on speed the most. So with the smaller duel weapons, you can utilize your speed and use it to its fullest potential."

"I guess that makes sense. I shall do my best to learn these daggers friend Gabya."

"That's good. Now Robin, when we spared, I noticed that you not only have multiple weapons, you also have martial arts skill to fall back upon." Robin grinned and nodded, "But you should think to add retractable blades to your Bo staff."

Robin grinned and pulled out his staff, "I'm way ahead of you." And he pressed a button on the staff, and small blades shot out from each end of the staff."

"Good, now let's get to work. Robin, I want you to work with Starfire and train her with different types of weapons. Cyborg you go and develop your armor and sword. Beastboy, you're with me."

"Wait, what am I supposed to do?" Vagare yelled

Gabya looked at her, "Did you make your weapons yourself?"

Vagare thought for a second "I believe so."

Gabya nodded, "Why don't you help Cyborg out with making his new weapons then"

She nodded and began walking off in the direction Cyborg did.

(With Raven and Lilith)

"So what is this ritual? What do we have to do?" Raven questioned.

Lilith sighed, "The good news is that this is actually one of the simplest rituals to learn."

Raven looked at the demoness with a raised eyebrow, "I thought you said that it was dangerous."

"It is. It may be easy to learn, but it is a real bitch to master." Lilith explained.

"How so?"

"You're timing must me exact." Lilith answered. "The majority of the ritual is almost similar to a modern day blood transfusion. One second too long, you both will have lost too much blood to survive, while the adverse is true as well. One second too short, you're body's wouldn't have taken enough of the others blood to begin the self healing process."

"Oh…How long does it have to go on?" Raven asked.

"That's the tricky thing; it's different for every pair that tries it. You have to place complete trust in one another, or the ritual would ultimately fail." She responded grimly

"Oh…wait, if this is a blood transfer ritual, then why did you and Zaru say that we could end up loosing our minds?"

"Because there is a telekinetic connection made between the two."

A look of confusion flashed across Ravens features, "I thought that there was the telekinetic bond when we first mated."

Lilith nodded, "That's true, but this ritual is supposed to make normal mental bonds much stronger."

"That makes sense, what do we have to do?" Raven asked.

(With Gabya and Beastboy)

Gabya pulled several old texts out of a void, and dropped them in front of Beastboy. "Ok kid, let's get started."

Beastboy looked on at the pile of old mythological archives, and gulped. "Umm Dude? What are these for?"

Gabya sighed, "You're going to study these so you can learn the necessary magic that you have to be to use in order to transform into the creatures that I will help you with."

Beastboy groaned and picked up the closest book and began something he thought he'd never have to do, study.

Several hours later, Gabya was impressed with the speed at which Beastboy was learning the necessary spells in order to make the simpler transformations. He had already had one successful transformation into the hellhound, Cerberus. He has almost mastered the spells that are needed to complete the transformation into the dreaded Hydra.

Gabya grinned at the changeling, "Very good! You have several more creatures you have to learn, but one will be almost completely impossible for me to teach you."

Beastboy grinned at the complement, "Which creature is that?"

"Those are the different elemental Dragons. You do remember how difficult it was to gain control of the beast?"

Beastboy paled lightly, "Yea, what of it?"

Gabya looked down, "Dragons are almost impossible to control, no matter what form they come in. The only one that could even come close to giving you the secret as to how it is done is Exile."

Beastboy sighed in defeat, "Oh well, might as well learn as many different of these creatures as I can. I'll save the Dragons for later."

"Well, let's take a short break; this is the longest I've seen you sit still, so I can tell you need a break." Beastboy let out a sigh of relief.

(With Cyborg and Vagare)

Vagare followed Cyborg into his room, where he walked over to a set of armor and pulled it off of its stand. He placed the armor onto a table. He took a deep breath, "I really don't want to alter any of this…"

Vagare looked on at him, "Why's that?"

"This armor represents the first time since my accident that I had fought and relied on my own personal skills, and not my cybernetic parts. I had been a hero, and I did it without my tech." He looked down, "It made me feel human again."

Vagare was taken aback at this, she looked upon the forlorn form of Cyborg, and thought of possible alternatives to altering his keepsake. Suddenly an idea hit her. "What would you say to only altering the physical makeup of the armor, rather then the whole thing?"

Cyborg thought for a second, then looked Vagare in the eyes, "So what you're saying is attempt to modernize the armor, and integrate it with my systems?"

Vagare smiled, "Yeah, something like that. I believe you'd actually be able to design it so that if the armor receives ant significant damage, that it would actually mend itself."

Cyborg grinned, "That's doable, now, any ideas for the sword?"

Vagare thought for a second, "Why don't you leave that sword alone, and design a complete new one, out of that steel I heard you design. Also, I heard of a way that can make ordinary steel practically indestructible, so if we used that process on yours the results would overwhelming!"

Cyborg grinned, "Alright! Let's get working'"

Cyborg reached for a block of steel and began to melt it down so it could be poured into a form that Vagare was creating by carving out the shape of a broad sword in two pieces of stone.

Once the metal was completely melted, Cyborg carried it over to the form that Vagare had just finished making, and poured the molten metal into it.

Cyborg turned to Vagare, "Alright, what was this process you know?"

Vagare grinned, "It's the same process that has been used to make the armor for tanks, electrocute the molten metal with high amounts of voltage. That way when the metal cools, all of the electrons will be near the surface, making it a hell of a lot harder."

Cyborg slapped his forehead, "Why didn't I think of that!" He then moved over to his spare charger cable, making a few quick alterations, and bought it back over to Vagare. "Ok…I believe we got it." Cyborg said as he placed the modified charger cable into its place, and turned on the power.

Vagare grinned at the mechanical Titan, and put her arm around him, "Now all we gotta do is wait till this stuff hardens and make a nice grip then your golden!"

Cyborg grinned back, "I also have to give this to Either Gabya or Raven to make it even better."

(With Ex and Zaru)

Ex thought over what Zaru had just told him about the ritual, and thought about the fact that ten days are needed to prepare for the ritual. "Zaru, what's the point of all the prep time?"

Zaru thought for second, "Actually, it's mainly for preparing the mind and body for the ritual itself."

"I guess that makes sense. So what do we have to do?"

Zaru looked at Ex, "Follow me."

A/N Im just too tired of this writers block, so im just gunna post what ive got so far, and i should have the ending of this chapter up soon. i hope you enjoy, please R&R.


	11. Not an update

Hey everyone! Got some good news and some bad news…………..bad news is that I reread my story, and I think there is a lot of room for improvement. I'm looking for any and all suggestions to help me get my muse back. Basically I just think it sucks. So just so you know I haven't given up on this story at all. And the good news is…uhhh…I know! I have cookies!


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